- Israel Adesanya has lost to Alex Pereira three times in combat sports.
- Now, he’s up for a fourth – and he’s actually the favorite, with -139 odds on Bovada.
- Adesanya was close to winning last time before Pereria’s precision punches put him out.
LAS VEGAS - For the third time in combat sports, Alex Pereira defeated Israel Adesanya, this time claiming his UFC Middleweight Championship.
Now, Adesanya has what might be his last chance to take down his demon – and the online gambling sites actually favor him to do so.
UFC 287 Odds: Pereira Vs. Adesanya 2
- Alex Pereira +110
- Israel Adesanya -139
Pereira defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing, before making his way up the UFC rankings chart to defeat him in MMA as well.
He’s a nightmare matchup for The Last Stylebender – power, precision, reach and size. Adesanya can’t exploit his reach advantage over most of his weight class safely against someone as large as Pereira.
However, Pereira is also potentially very weak as a grappler, struggling to defend even Adesanya’s basic techniques in their first fight.
Pereira has never fought a strong grappler in the UFC, as it seems as though Dana White and co. wanted him to get the Adesanya matchup unsullied by potential losses.
Adesanya has implied this might be his final fight if he loses. “This is my last shot,” he said. “And I'm gonna give it all I got."
Adesanya was perhaps only minutes from winning against Pereira last time, as he was ahead on all the scorecards before Pereira’s precision and power put him out.
This fight has -115 odds to go the distance, a number that represents how much the MMA odds boards seem to believe that Adesanya can figure out a way to take this to a decision victory.
“It’s going to be different,” Adesanya told Sports Illustrated. “I can’t reveal the work I’ve put in, but I’ll let it be known on the night of the fight that I’m the best. I’ll say less and do more.”
UFC 287 takes place on April 9, available on PPV.