Israel Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman revealed that he was not really enthusiastic about a rematch between Adesanya and Alex Pereira at this early stage, but Israel insisted on making it happen nevertheless.
Adesanya’s run in the UFC was absolutely fantastic up until UFC 281 when he suffered the second loss of his mixed martial arts career at the hands of Alex Pereira, which prompted him to go for an immediate rematch against the Brazilian fighter.
Israel Adesanya fully focused on just winning Alex Pereira rematch: ‘F—k the belt. I have to beat this guy’ | #UFC287 https://t.co/3AoblTJYAX pic.twitter.com/EmlHLc8n6c
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) February 15, 2023
In an interview with The MMA Hour, Eugene Bareman discussed Israel’s upcoming battle and revealed that Bareman would have wanted to delay the bout at least until May rather than have it take place in April saying, “If I had a choice, which I quite often don’t, then I would probably have waited longer just to give Israel a little bit more time between a stoppage like that and the next fight,”
Alex Pereira doesn’t think Israel Adesanya will have time to make the proper adjustments to win the rematch for the belt. 👀 pic.twitter.com/mRl0gLH6vb
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) February 19, 2023
Since defeating Robert Whittaker in 2019, The Last Stylebender has held the middleweight title for three years. Before his fifth-round technical knockout defeat against Alex Pereira, he successfully defended the championship five times. This, according to Bareman, is why Israel was so eager to reclaim his crown from Alex.
”Even in an ideal world, I would have done what they do in boxing. I would have brought in a couple of guys for Israel to warm up on and then fight [Pereira]. In the UFC, we don’t have that choice and, quite frankly, Israel is 100 percent adamant that he must be the next person to fight Alex Pereira. Beyond all doubt. I would have been happy with May, June.” Bareman further added.
However, Adesanya’s coach is okay with the timeline as Izzy has been training for a while now and in his usual frame of mind and state. According to the trainer, Israel was prepared to take the fight on four to five weeks’ notice if Pereira was willing to take the fight.
Israel Adesanya coach would have liked Adesanya to take longer break before Alex Pereira rematch https://t.co/ij4XYILQtE pic.twitter.com/ZCZLOrYfs1
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) February 20, 2023
Adesanya has beaten Robert Whittaker, Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, and Jared Cannonier on his way to successfully defending his middleweight title. After beating Alex Pereira in the rematch, do you think he will be able to reclaim the middleweight title at UFC 287 on April 8th?
