Is Pereira more talented than Adesanya or just a bad matchup?

[Bob Sagat]

Are we strictly talking about height and length here? Cause to me that is only 1 factor that entails size. Izzy might be tall be he is skinny, he doesn’t have the frame and muscle mass that other much larger fighters do. He also balloon up after weight in’s liek other fighters, meanwhile guys like Costa and Alex regain close to 20lbs come fight night.

So how can you say Alex is only slightly larger when he has close to 10-15 lbs on Izzy? I’m assuming you don’t know what a 10lb difference feels like when facing an equally skilled opponent?

strickland, whittaker, weidman don't balloon up.
costa is an anomaly and using him and alex as arguments on izzy not being outsized for the div is dishonest. izzy has been plying his comical reach advantage for years and the first fighter he couldn't handle in this way he lost emphatically to

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Alex was gonna kill Izzy a lot sooner and it was clinch work and and wrestling that drug out and almost changed the outcome.


Alex should be better next time out. Hoping they rematch and Izzy gets slept again.

 

[Alpha_T83]

I always thought Izzy was overrated for what he was doing. Unlike Anderson Silva, he clearly didn't have what it takes to compete at 205. And at 185, Izzy was allowed to defend the belt against old Yoel, green Costa, and average Cannonier. None of these fighters are/were true champion level fighters. Whittaker and Vettori defeat EACH of those fighters as well, so beating them doesn't make Izzy special at all.

That means Izzy's only true championship level wins are Vettori and Whittaker. Hardly the world beater that everyone was making him out to be.

 

[drbolony]

Better in dangerous striking. Still kinda think Izzy is the best MMA fighter of the two.

But man.. that power is so scary.

And its power + technical striking ffs

This, imagine Dan Henderson without the wrestling, but actual striking prowess and not just an overhand. That's Alex, fucking crazy.

Dudes a fucking killer. Broke my heart, but he's fucking good.

I always thought Izzy was overrated for what he was doing. Unlike Anderson Silva, he clearly didn't have what it takes to compete at 205. And at 185, Izzy was allowed to defend the belt against old Yoel, green Costa, and average Cannonier. None of these fighters are/were true champion level fighters. Whittaker and Vettori defeat EACH of those fighters as well, so beating them doesn't make Izzy special at all.

That means Izzy's only true championship level wins are Vettori and Whittaker. Hardly the world beater that everyone was making him out to be.

Lol as oppose to world beaters Thales Leites, Patrick Cote, Yushin Okami, Travis Lutter. Or how about LHW elite James Irvin, Stephan Bonnar, or Forrest Griffin. Yikes.

 

[mjfan23]

It’s funny to see sherdoggers saying Adesanya is a better kickboxer when:

- Pereira is 3-0 up against him with two stoppage wins.

- Pereira is a 2 division Glory Champion with better wins and vastly more accomplished than Adesanya in kickboxing.

Who is saying Izzy is a better kick-boxer? Please name and shame those idiots

 

[Rank Squatter]

Izzy was having bad dreams <Lmaoo>

Punching the the air

Screams of Noooooo

 

[Dorkman]

Bad match up. Izzy is the better overall mma fighter no doubt. His take down defence is better as well as ability to defend on the ground and get up. Along with some top position know how. Alex had major weaknesses in grappling we saw just Izzy just dosent have the strengths to exploit it. Which meant he had to spend significant time warding off Alex’s best attribute in his precision power striking. And what we’ve seen in stand up only battles is they both have the ability to hurt each other bad. Just Alex seems to be the only one who’s been able to close it out. Twice now. I believe Alex loses to a good portion of the top 5 not named Izzy. But Izzy stylistically is perfect for Alex to compete at an elite level

 

[Alpinestar]

I think they're about the same level skills-wise, but Pereira looked like a weight class heavier than Adesanya. Size matters.

 

[Dessyboy]

Bad matchup, Alex doesn't beat the string of guys Izzy has, not all of them anyway

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

Well he cut his teeth in Glory and ended up being better (in terms of not sinking against the best). He's not as flashy but he is solid on fundamentals. You have to have skills to do what he did in Glory - if were just power he'd have never even smelled the belt.

He was very raw in his early fights and you can see it; but as he gained experience, especially post izzy fights, you can see him become more refined, technical and patient.

 

[DrunkMonkMeth]

Started kickboxing at a later age, still beat him twice. Then with much less MMA experience, beats him in MMA. Is it just a situation where Adesanya may be better but Alex has his number, or is Pereira better? Had Pereira gotten into MMA at the same time Adesanya did do you think he could have been even more dominant?

They are both very talented. But evidence says he has his number.

 

[Celeron]

strickland, whittaker, weidman don't balloon up.
costa is an anomaly and using him and alex as arguments on izzy not being outsized for the div is dishonest. izzy has been plying his comical reach advantage for years and the first fighter he couldn't handle in this way he lost emphatically to

And yet they weigh just as much or more as Izzy come fight night, so besides height how exactly is Izzy too big for the weight class?

And how am I being dishonest using Costa and Alex as examples, if there were only 1 fighter gaining that much weight it would anomaly, but when 2 fighters ii is not. I can even give you another fighter that regains a good amount of weight afterwards and who is bigger than Izzy- Marvin Vettori. That’s 3 fighters now that just off the top of my head that are much bigger than Izzy.

 

[TheJohnnyWalkerEra]

They're close in skill but Alex has more power. Adesanya would eventually win if they kept fighting because he still has enough power to put people away. I'd say Pereira wins about 4/5 times, maybe even 9/10

 

[Th3Sav4ge]

skills for skills i think its fair to say izzy has more but in fighting there are skills, and attributes. Alexs attributes and game match up great against isreal. its a panther vs a tiger

So yes he is a bad match up, but no thats not as excuse to take away from alex's skills. He is the rightful number 1.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

technical just meant point fighting and running away, scoring 10 pt rounds while being stalked in the cage fearing for your life

I honestly cannot disagree with you, furthermore the second Alex was signed by the UFC, I was pulling for him to be the guy who dethroned Izzy... realizing how much that loss would sting Adesanya.

I say that as a butthurt Bobby Knucks and Costa fanboi...LoL.

Anyway the commonality with Bareman coached CKB fighters seems to be risk adverse point fighting, especially in the higher stakes bouts. As we saw on the prelims when Eugene’s fighters are against overmatched opposition they will fight aggressively and finish their fights. However when fighting elite or Championship caliber competition, it’s the polar opposite, frustratingly risk free and boringly conservative. Eugene’s game plans seem to be predicated on narrowly winning rounds first and foremost, keeping his fighters free of danger and faithfully putting it in the hands of the judges. Seemingly just as long as his fighters are perceived to be ahead on the scorecards they won’t step on the gas, or even in the Romero fight Izzy just didn’t engage, it was bizarre.

They made it work for a time, but it now Periera broke Adesanya’s stranglehold on the MW Division and it looks to be wide open... looking forward to seeing the future matchups that the shakeup will produce... outta be fun.

 

[Bob Sagat]

And yet they weigh just as much or more as Izzy come fight night, so besides height how exactly is Izzy too big for the weight class?

And how am I being dishonest using Costa and Alex as examples, if there were only 1 fighter gaining that much weight it would anomaly, but when 2 fighters ii is not. I can even give you another fighter that regains a good amount of weight afterwards and who is bigger than Izzy- Marvin Vettori. That’s 3 fighters now that just off the top of my head that are much bigger than Izzy.

whoa man three whole fighters
and yet poatan is magically outside of your standards of what a MW fighter is despite coming in lighter than izzy managed to. it's ok when izzy reach bullies because he's [slightly] smaller than alex

 

[Liquidskies]

He was so much bigger, Alex could easily fight a weight class above. I was actually impressed with Israels performance. Israel is slightly more technical but Alex has more power.

 

[Hitdepruns]

I

Bad match up. Izzy is the better overall mma fighter no doubt. His take down defence is better as well as ability to defend on the ground and get up. Along with some top position know how. Alex had major weaknesses in grappling we saw just Izzy just dosent have the strengths to exploit it. Which meant he had to spend significant time warding off Alex’s best attribute in his precision power striking. And what we’ve seen in stand up only battles is they both have the ability to hurt each other bad. Just Alex seems to be the only one who’s been able to close it out. Twice now. I believe Alex loses to a good portion of the top 5 not named Izzy. But Izzy stylistically is perfect for Alex to compete at an elite level

What that means he is "the best overall mma fighter"? The lesser mma fighter fucked him up? Pereira is too much for Izzy. It is what it is.

 

[Lo-Pan’s Pinky]

Higher masculinity

 

[BoxingMMA]

I’ve been watching boxing, kickboxing, mma from many organizations and other combat sports since 1986 when I was 6.

Pereira has weaknesses as any man has but his left hook is one of the scariest punches I’ve ever seen in my life, I’ve never been much of an Izzy fan but every time that punch missed I felt like Izzy just barely avoided incoming traffic.