Israel Adesanya Backs Rival Alex Pereira to Knock Out Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291

• Israel Adesanya thinks Alex Pereira’s power will be too much for Jan Blachowicz
• Pereira is set to square off against Blachowicz at the main event of UFC 291
• Both Pereira and Blachowicz are the only UFC fighters to defeat Adesanya in his career

Israel Adesanya has given his take on who will emerge as the winner between Alex Pereira and Jan Blachowicz when both renowned UFC fighters face off at UFC 291.

Pereira will make his light heavyweight debut against Blachowicz in Saturday’s UFC 291 co-main event at Delta Center in Salt Lake City in one of the biggest fights of the year.

According to MMA Junkie, UFC middleweight champion, Adesanya has backed Pereira to be victorious this Saturday against Blachowicz due to his power advantage.

“I’m going to go Alex by knockout. I think Alex hits harder. It’s the way he throws, the technique he throws with, the technique – he grounds himself. He’s not running. He’s not moving and throwing.”

Meet the top 4 African stars who played for Eintracht Frankfurt

Football

Pereira comes into the fight with an impressive record of 7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC, while Blachowicz also boasts a good record of 29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC coming into the matchup.

Pereira backs Strickland against Adesanya

Meanwhile, in a turn of events, Alex Pereira believes Sean Strickland has the best chance of toppling current UFC champion, Israel Adesanya if both fighters ever face off, Sports Illustrated reports.

Pereira remarked that if Strickland should put in the work, he has a 100 percent better chance against Adesanya than South African fighter, Dricus Du Plessis.

Adesanya is set to square up against Du Plessis next as the South African has risen up the ranks to become the next mandatory challenger for the UFC middleweight belt, which is currently held by the Nigerian.

Adesanya blasts Dricus Du Plessis

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Israel Adesanya is angry at Dricus Du Plessis after it emerged their highly-anticipated UFC Middleweight title defence bout might not see the light of day as the South African appears to be injured.

EFC 105 in pictures: Some of the best photos from the stacked main card fights

MMA

The Nigerian UFC champion was supposed to face off against Du Plessis after the South African rose up to the position for a title shot after stopping former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.

Adesanya released an expletive-filled rant directed towards Du Plessis.