An expert MMA panel featuring a number of former middleweight champions broke down and predicted the UFC 287 main event between Israel Adesanya and middleweight champion Alex Pereira.
The UFC had a special panel featuring Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Chris Weidman, and Georges St-Pierre. They all highlighted the strengths of each fighter before making their prediction.
Weidman and Belfort believe that the fight could go either way and it will come down to the striking exchanges. They noted that ‘Poatan’s’ power could give him the advantage if he’s successful with landing his combinations. However, they mentioned that Adesanya is the more well-rounded of the two, which could be an advantage and lead to him regaining the middleweight championship.
‘GSP’ mentioned that although his pick might be biased because of their friendship, he believes that Adesanya will finally defeat Pereira and silence the doubters. ‘The Dragon’, on the other hand, was confident that his countryman will successfully retain his UFC middleweight championship tonight, saying:
“I put all my money on Pereira because I train so many times with him and I know how difficult he is. He knows the distance really good and everything that he does is through conscience, not just by instinct… I put all my money on Pereira for sure.”
It has been a unique rivalry dating back to their kickboxing careers and they will be competing against each other for the fourth and likely final time tonight. Pereira has won all three bouts and most recently defeated Adesanya via fifth-round TKO to win the middleweight championship.
UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre open to fighting Floyd Mayweather under one condition
It appears as though UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre is open to the idea of fighting Floyd Mayweather, but it will have to be under condition.
While speaking with TSN MMA reporter Aaron Bronsteter, the former two-division champion mentioned that he has been in talks for a bout with Mayweather, but he will only accept it if it’s contested under modified rules.
He said:
“It’s either you let me use my legs or the takedown. ‘Oh, he will never go to the ground.’ I’m like, ‘Well, it’s one or the other.’ I’m not gonna box the best boxer for money, you know. For me, you know, if they want to fight me, they have to accept my term. I’m not gonna bend to their term. It need to be a fair compromise.”
It will be interesting to see if a St-Pierre vs. Mayweather bout comes to fruition this year.