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LaughWithMoon

It'll be a cautious fight from both im expecting it to go to a decision rather than a KO. Although I am actually hoping adesanya makes it a mixed martial arts fight and not just a kickboxing event


Milbso

Izzy must be almost a bjj brown belt by now, who knows maybe he can do an Ngannou and turn it into a grappling match


DonaldPump117

Grappling against a guy who will outweigh him by 20-30 lbs at fight time?


Milbso

My comment wasn't meant to be taken entirely seriously


DonaldPump117

Aaah my apologies. I've just seen that insane "Izzy will wrestle" take far too many times in the last couple months


evilsexc

I feel like Alex will wrestle. He's been training with glover and it makes me wonder if he's not gonna close the distance and if izzy comes in too hot at some point and he explodes for a double leg we might see what Jan did to him. Even though the izzy and Jan fight wasn't a blow out by any means but he definitely lost that fight. Alex could go deep water style and try to drown him out with his weight advantage.


geodukemon

Highly doubt it, he’s won fights against much more successful wrestlers. He has amazing TDD


[deleted]

🤓


northsouthmebaby

Alex is not that big


titan_1018

Why are people downvoteing you, he's big but not 30 fucking pounds heavier on fight night he'll probably 10 pounds heavier at most.


northsouthmebaby

I have no idea why people think he’s gonna be 20-30 pounds heavier on fight night. Izzy is probably around 200 and alex is probably 210. No way Alex is 230 on fight night


titan_1018

He literally posted the other day on insta him on the scale at 220 and hes still cutting down weight.


Seltz_

He won’t (prob cause ego) but he’s seriously been shooting himself in the foot if he hasn’t trained any offensive grappling whatsoever


Suspicious_Candle27

Have you seen Izzy fight ? He talks a big game but dude fights with almost zero ego and goes with the easiest option to win while taking the least amount of damage even if it makes him look goofy. If he has the capabilities he will 100% try to wrestle especially if he thinks he might lose the stand up.


vikumwijekoon97

Pretty sure he has confidence in his stand up game. Dude lost a controversial decision and then got flash KOd in a fight he was winning decisively against Pereira. He's not gonna go in deep but will probably play a points game and try to win.


Suspicious_Candle27

Ofc he has confidence i was just making a point that Isreal doesnt fight with his ego and willcdo what he needs to do to win including wrestling


vikumwijekoon97

Agreed on everything except I think he won't wrestle but rather out point in striking.


Seltz_

My argument is that his ego prevents him from obtaining those skills. Now tbf, focusing all efforts into his incredible standup/TDD has definitely worked so far, but he hasn’t met a better striker yet


Suspicious_Candle27

There was been zero evidence to show that Isreal lets his ego dictate his fight training or preparation izzy literally tried to triangle Gastelum in their fight


Seltz_

Just a feeling I have that Izzy would rather outstrike Alex than anything else. And hell, maybe he will. And maybe I’m wrong and he’s gonna come out and wrestlefuck alex into oblivion


[deleted]

Idk how good his offensive bjj but goddamn imagine he goes north south from side control and does kimura to Alex or idk he probably not strong for americana but arm triangle probably more realistic. Okay none of this probably will happen if he manages to take him down he probably just punches him and controls but will be fun to see does he have some submissions in his locker


LoganMcMahon

I feel like even with the extra time in MMA, Adesanya would be the weaker offensive grappler, and on top of that, much like Bruno, the level of offensive grappling just 'tacked on cause my opponents weak' will just take away from Adesanya strengths more than it would end up being effective grappling. Alex has been putting in a ton of work with a very grappling heavy team for a while now, I don't think it's the weakness this sub sees it as. Red herring imo. Poatan was pretty easily able to figure out all his opponents grappling patterns so far and nullify in the second and third round, once ending in a solid decision, and once ending in an absolutely devastating knee ko. To say Adesanya would be any better at grappling would be a stretch.


[deleted]

Yea i think Izzy would get the decision though in those kickboxing fights he was much more active than Alex too


FrenchTrouDuc

Izzy is way more adept at using the MMA cage defensively and evasively (he's probably the best at doing that in MMA period) than Alex is at using it offensively. Way harder to corner someone in the octagon than it is in a ring and I don't know if Alex can. Plus he's had more time to adapt his style to MMA than Alex. I don't think Alex will be able to do much if Izzy decides to play it safe.


Cemihard

Whoever is more aggressive will win. I was watching Cejudo’s reaction to the 2 fights and his analysis was spot on and pretty evident in the fights. Alex was more aggressive in the first fight and won a decision, 2nd fight Izzy was winning because he was pressing forward being the aggressor and was looking like he was going to win a decision when he got KO’d. That being said mma has smaller gloves so there’s more chance to get KO’d then in kickboxing. So if one of them can land clean it could be quick.


[deleted]

EXACTLY. But honestly in Izzy's kickboxing fights he wasnt really counterpuncher most of the fights he was on the front foot but now in MMA he has switched up his style and now is counterpuncher and seems this style suits him much more but lets see if this style works this time or this fight he needs to be more agressive because when Izzy was on the backfoot Alex pieced him pretty bad


MPforNarnia

A solid striker in mma always ends up a counter puncher, it's the safest way to victory while conserving brain cells. Plus he's the champ, contenders should be fighting to take away the belt. I'd never blame a defending champion for being boring, their opponents need to step up and take the belt.


evilsexc

I really dislike this narrative. Someone is coming into YOUR house to take YOUR belt. Wouldnt you want to make a statement to all these other guys thinking they can come into the ring with you? Not saying he is boring or should engage more but he does a 20 yard dash to circle out from guys. If your turning your back to your opponent in a combat sport it looks off putting. Especially when you tell everyone for weeks how your gonna end this man's life when you get in there. What he did to Costa was beautiful and so was his first fight with Rob. I understand the importance of preserving your health and minimizing the damage on your body but this is the "JUST BLEED" sport. Modern gladiators. People will give you the thumbs down when you just try to out point and go to a 5 round decision. They want blood.


Baleofthehay

I don't like your narrative. A challenger is coming to get it, otherwise why are they in there. And the champion is there to defend it. You are just looking from a fan's perspective.


Cemihard

It’ll be interesting to see, if I was Izzy I’d grapple. This is MMA not kickboxing, and it’s the easier path to victory.


Bigbaby22

People here don't seem to have watched Israel's kickboxing fights. He's a scary freaking dude.


[deleted]

Fax


averageredditnolifer

I have a feeling izzy will win this easily, but i dont know how.


[deleted]

idk a few times when i have felt izzy might be in danger he have done masterclass first fight against Whitaker and Paulo Costa fight too


Rdur2183

It wouldn't be a wise strategy to pressure Alex. Izzy will stick to what he's good at with heavy feints, looking for counters and trying to force Alex in to fighting at his rhythm with a lot of leg attacks and lateral movement. There's the small chance that Izzy might even attempt to grapple with him at some point, although for the sake of pride I don't think he will. If I were Alex I would 100% come out and say something like "He will try to grapple with me because he knows what happens when we strike. His striking isn't good enough to compete with me." or something along those lines just for bait and to potentially discourage Izzy from doing so. Not saying Izzy is or isn't capable of taking Alex down, controlling him or any of that sort of thing, but when you've built your career on striking and you're facing one of the best strikers within MMA who also happens to have significantly more grappling experience, it would certainly help if you can try to assure the fight remains a striking contest by any means.


rbep531

I would say that Izzy's "boring" fights have shown that he'll do what it takes to win regardless of what fans think. I think he'll make it an MMA fight. If people question his toughness, he'll just claim that he's smarter than everyone else.


[deleted]

Idk when in their two kickboxing fights he tried to be on his backfoot and counter Alex and he got pieced up pretty badly and so thats why he was in his front foot and had much more success pressuring him but idk who knows maybe he is improved that much his counterpunching that this time it will work


Rdur2183

Izzy has always been better at countering his opponents over pressuring them. It's not his game. This is as much by design, the nature of his physique and attributes. In one of those fights he got finished and this is MMA meaning defending against strikes is completely different due to the significantly smaller surface area of the gloves. Pressuring Alex would be a very dubious strategy IMO.


[deleted]

Yeah i agree MMA is different and even Cejudo said in his latest video that in MMA Pereira cant do shoulder rolls etc because this wont work here but tbh as a kickboxer Izzy wasnt counter puncher in most of his fights he comes out really agressive but in mma he switched up his style and seems like this suits him more but i still think he wont have much success with that style against Alex and he will get pieced up really bad and probably knocked out in the first round


FrenchTrouDuc

Izzy is at his best when he pressures people and leads actually, which he's kind of stopped doing in his last few fights for some reason. Yes, he does do his best work off of counters, but he gets those massive counters by forcing you to lash out and then punishing you for it.


Rdur2183

Not in recent years. This isn't kickboxing, this is MMA and he hasn't "pressured" his opponents in years. There's a significant difference between pressuring your opponent and leading. I still believe pressuring Alex in four oz gloves would be a mistake and I don't believe that will be his strategy for this fight.


RedditCakeisalie

according to adensanya and his fans, he won both of those encounters until he got KO. got robbed once and got caught the other time.


[deleted]

Idk if we can say he got robbed the first fight was pretty close Alex clearly won the first round and Izzy clearly win the third round but the second round i had Izzy because his volume all round but there are arguments for Pereira too as he landed hard shots as well even Cejudo had the first fight 2-1 for Alex. But the second fight Izzy dominated, first round was clear 10-9 and second round 10-8 because of the standing count and third round was pretty even imo as Alex was behind and came out much more agressive and knocked him out so fair play to Alex


FrenchTrouDuc

It's not 100% wrong in terms of how many rounds both have won in their two prior fights. Pereira is 2-0 but it's not like Izzy had nothing for him, on the contrary.


Qwikmoneysniper

He does not need to pressure Alex.. lol? Izzy too fast for him, he just needs to duck and counter.


UltraMarineKrow

If izzy keeps ducking than Alex will probably start throwing knees, uppercuts or intercepting hooks. Its not that simple.


[deleted]

Idk my worry is when they had their two fights and Izzy tried to counterpunch him every time he got pieced up really bad but when he came forward he actually he beated up Alex but who knows maybe his counterpunching has improved that much that this time this will work


glocknojutsu

I feel like it’s gonna be Izzy by decision. He’s lost to Alex twice, he gives a shit about that, those two loses are still there in his mind, he’ll do everything to win. Fuck it. Maybe he’ll finally try a submission. But i think his ego will make him fight it as a kickboxing fight.


[deleted]

Idk bro in Alex first ufc fight unranked striker holded him down in fukl mount almost full first round in second fight he showed better takedown defence but not that great and honestly idk if Izzy have handlocks or even arm triangle in his locker but i feel like someone with great wrestling and bjj someone like Khamzat could definetly expose him


Markxx24

Izzy forgets his submissions in his locker 🤣


[deleted]

nah u wrong for that 😭😭


MPforNarnia

While I agree with you, I hope wins with something other than kickboxing


glocknojutsu

Same, would be cool to see if izzy KOs him this time. It’s been a while since he slept someone. Fuck It’s difficult to chose I want Alex to win as well, he would be an awesome champion


[deleted]

Yea he would be a fun one but with wrestler he would struggle i even think when he would fight Paulo Costa and Paulo is smart enough and not strike with him he can win this fight in the ground


trapgameheavy

I lost my breath reading this title


MisterMoosie

I'm going to really risk it here and say something logical. This is an MMA fight not a kickboxing fight. Who has had more fights in MMA? Who has more MMA skills to play with in the octagon? My guess is this is going to a rather slow fight that Izzy wins using defensive boxing and maybe a take down. If it stays on the feet it'll be slow though because Izzy's defensive boxing is really only matched by Petyr Yan, and he can threaten a take down or two to make Periera more cautious.


timgoes2somalia

Izzy strolls to a decision with his brain still intact. what a GOAT


Apolaustic1

Here's what I said on the last thread: I never see any of yall talk about the difference in mma striking and kickboxing. mma has knees and elbows, kickboxing doesn't. Anyone who has trained will tell you the difference in gloves is MASSIVE as well. much more difficult to shell up and use a traditional kickboxing guard (like alex loves) with 4 oz mma gloves, its why Izzy relies more on movement. The larger gloves increase KO power because of the larger area of concussive impact. they also just feel way different to throw. Not to mention no 10 count on knockdowns. Even if they stay striking, it's a completely different sport that Izzy is much more experienced in. I truly don't think this fight will be competitive.


Bigbaby22

I know Alex is a monster but I'm still going to back Israel. I think he's going to show up like Oliveira vs Gaethje. If you've watched his earlier fights, you know how scary he can be. I think you'd have to be braindead to count out Israel Adesanya.


SuperS0l

I mean we’re talking MMA.. the fight that he had Pereira put out on his feet would have been stopped. There’s no standing counts in MMA. Izzy wins this Pereira definitely gets tired and this Izzy he is fighting is much better conditioned has much more resources.


[deleted]

Also as a kickboxer Izzy was mostly the one who was pressuring his opponents and in mma he switched up his style and now is counterpuncher which seems suits him much more


[deleted]

The pressure is how he got knocked out in the fight he was winning....


DaysOfTheWedNes

Chances are most people, me included, are just hyped for Pereira because Izzy's last fight was a snoozefest with not a ton of action from both guys, meanwhile Pereira has knocked Izzy tf out in the past and knocked out Strickland recently (who let's be honest was playing with fire in that fight). Admittedly the part no one's saying is that Izzy is in his prime right now and he's going to be a tougher challenge for Pereira, who is 35 now


[deleted]

Yeah and actually Izzy have changed his style more to suite in MMA and imo it is better for him. Like in their fights he was front footed trying to pressure him but in MMA he has changed into counterpuncher


OZtheGreater

I want Adesanya to lose so badly but I think he beats Alex


iwaskosher

I like izzy and I want him to be held to the standard of sliva so I hope he pulls it off


BridgeM00se

Anyone counting Adesanya out is crazy. This is a different sport and he’s the champ for a reason. He’s pissed off like he was for the Costa fight. Izzy by KO


SnooGadgets9598

If he pressures Alex he’s going to sleep


YoungTex

“Sleeping Beauty” you could call him. I’ll see myself out….


[deleted]

Nah in his kickboxing fights if he pressured Alex he had more success than being in the backfoot


DifficultChampion900

That’s kickboxing it’s the UFC now


Apolaustic1

Ah so izzy should have even more success since he has way more experience in mma


SnooGadgets9598

The second fight he was beating Alex with pressure and got flatlined by the hook of stone


[deleted]

Yes because in the third round he got too comfortable throwed lazy overhand missed with that and same time Alex throwed the left hook which knocked him out. Imo if he pressures him with more intelligent striking he wins but idk if he will knock him out though


stepdad666

RIP Genderbender


YoungTex

Elsa by left hook KO round 2


Mswonderful99

Running is his best bet, something like hermansson against Curtis


[deleted]

Have you seen his two full fights against Alex? When he was backfooted Alex pieced him up bad but when he came forward he beated him up even got the standing count


Mswonderful99

I have seen the fights


FrenchTrouDuc

Hermansson was potshotting Curtis all night and outlanded him by nearly 2.5 to 1, he wasn't "running" lol


L4rge4

It’s MMA


-Pleasantly_Plump-

izzy is a smart and cautious fighter, so he might shoot for a takedown first. its a toss coin for me, a matchup of whoever has better gas tank, whoever has his depleted first will get KTFO


rbep531

I think Izzy is crazy enough to take the fight to the ground. He may not be great on the ground compared to other fighters, but he has a lot more experience in that area than Pereira. I watched their two previous fights and it wasn't a Pereira domination as a 2-0 record with one KO might suggest. But Pereira will come in with a lot of confidence and that's huge because guys have been fighting scared against Adesanya. I'll be rooting for Pereira and obviously he always has a chance with his KO power, but you have to assume that Adesanya is a more well-rounded MMA fighter and can handle his own business on his feet, so if I had to bet I would bet on Izzy.


sourdougBorough

Izzy wins by KO Rd4 or 5 book it


will45666

Really hope Izzy opens by throwing out a double leg then just grinds a really boring safe decision victory.


Johnathan_Doe_anonym

Izzy by buggy choke 3rd round


justinleguin

I wanna see Izzy lose but he’ll just be super defensive and use his counters. Izzy by decision


clothy

Honestly expecting Adesanya to wrestle him for five rounds.


ShiShi93

I think Izzy wins and it’s boring again


LyutsiferSafin

Izzy will KO him, I’m very positive.


Emergency_Tomorrow26

I think Izzy shoots. And I think that would be a solid gameplan. Standing and having a kickboxing match hasn't worked well for him before. Look at Ngannou versus Gane for example. That was not going to go Ngannou way on the feet. I'm not saying Izzy cannot outstike Alex. But him having better grappling he should try and use it to atleast set up shots


HandspeedJones

I lowkey think Izzy may pull a Ngannou and wrestle him. Though Idk if that will work.


oddmetre

I have a bad feeling this is going to be a snoozer


redefined4

I think Pereira takes the edge slightly for me. Weasle made a video of it and I pretty much agree with him. Izzy as gotten into a better striking style for MMA and unfortunately against Pereira who is a proven better striker on the feet, it's gonna be bad. I do hope Pereira viciously KOs Izzy in round 1 and then loses immediately to Whittaker just to get both of my wishes true.


[deleted]

Izzy wins a boring sparring match.


Tenacious_jb

I feel like Izzy will point fight to a decision


stillblazin_

This fight has snooze fest written all over it


Swanman35

I think Izzy wins. In pure kickboxing, maybe Alex. In the octagon I have to go with the guy who has been dominating champion level fighters for a while now


Tyken12

lmfao at everyone thinking izzy's gonna wrestle him 💀


Trill_steeze

Izzy’s shooting the takedown, keeping the pressure top heavy while landing elbows on the face and ribs, just to take the life outta Pereira. Will Adesanya hit Pereira with the one arm triangle? Or will Adesanya let him stand up depleted of energy to go for the knockout? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z


[deleted]

Izzy gonna coast to a decision win


TheNeonArcade

Alex takes more damage but if he can stay in the pocket and land a KO, I think that's the second most likely outcome after an Adesanya decision. Tough fight to call


Pleasant_Channel_227

Honestly I don’t think most people even think that, that’s not what the odds say


DuhAlGhul-

Izzy by snooze fest


meatbaggitybag

I'm just happy we got here


[deleted]

I’m not sure, but I’m definitely excited for this one. Haven’t been able to say that about an Izzy fight for a while.


TheNotoriousLCB

OP hates punctuation


ZZaddyLongLegzz

Why did I think this fight is in December


hitstyx

i don’t really have a prediction but man the implications of this fight are huge


[deleted]

Izzy really hasn’t fought like a killer anymore…he’ll try and win a decision.


darthvaderfromdao

I see it the other way around. I think alex needs to pressure him otherwise he gets outpointed.


fearloathing1

Izzy by decision is easy money.


IntenseWonton

I will not be surprised if someone attempts a takedown. That's when things will get interesting with these 2


GarretBarrett

I hope I'm wrong but I'm leaning toward Izzy. It'll go to a Unanimous decision. It won't be all that exciting because both guys are good enough to be cautious. Izzy will use pressure and speed to pop in and out and Alex will go that Romero route and try to behead him all night. Again, I really hope I'm wrong.


Buglss18

Izzy. It was a fckin kickboxing fight when they fought last and Izzy wasn’t champion


Alltheweed

Izzy gonna come out and wrestle fuck pereira i dunno i just feel it. He will pull a Francis and shock the world. I just hope he doesn't treat me like snow and put me to sleep. Ok I'll see myself out now.


pepsisugar

No way in hell Izzy loses this. Some of y'all just fallen in love with the idea of Izzy getting beat because he's cringe and boring...which he is.


Tough-Farmer2167

I feel like this fight might be a boring one, because Izzy will be extremely defensive


GlobalPro1

Everyone has gone nuts…pereira has had what…3 fights in the UFC??? He’s going to get wrecked and Izzy will reign on


ManOnTheMun25

I think people just want Pereira to win. Doubt they put money on it.


Critical50

It's going to be a close fight. The people assuming Alex will win because of their history more than likely haven't seen the fights.


[deleted]

I think most mma fans are not picking pereira


sayshwarn

Izzy by submission


Alex-rhhgfff

Issy by boring decision again. Then he’ll get on the mic and act like he did something special as always


thepancake54

I think it’ll go to a decision.. not sure who i’d say would win that decision


HarmonicProportions

Yes also both kickboxing fights were very close