Israel Adesanya gives his prediction for the UFC 303 Main event

LockerRoom Team

29 Jun 2024

Israel Adesanya has made a bold prediction ahead of UFC 303, where Alex Pereira will defend his light heavyweight title in a highly anticipated rematch against former champion Jiri Prochazka. The event takes place this Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Adesanya, who has faced Pereira multiple times in both kickboxing and MMA, shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel, predicting that Prochazka will emerge victorious.

“I’m going to go Jiri, because we’re the chosen few,” Adesanya stated. “But also, I think he might have learned from his mistake, because people don’t understand, and it also makes things interesting — if [Jiri beats Alex] then it’s a trifecta, a trilogy, yeah. And I won’t be the only guy to knock this guy out. ... I’m going to go Jiri, and I’m going to go by third-round, or fourth-round finish.”

Pereira captured the vacant 205-pound title by stopping Prochazka in the second round at UFC 295 last November at Madison Square Garden. Both fighters returned to action at UFC 300 in April, with Pereira knocking out Jamahal Hill and Prochazka finishing Aleksandar Rakic. The rematch was scheduled on just over two weeks’ notice, replacing the originally planned Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler bout following McGregor’s injury.

Adesanya believes the short-notice nature of the fight and their recent history add an intriguing layer to the matchup.

“The approach from both fighters will be different because they both know what could happen — Alex knows he can get taken down and controlled, and Jiri knows he can get knocked out,” Adesanya explained. “But also, Alex knows he can get touched and hurt by Jiri. ... [It will be a] more calculated [fight], slower, because also they are taking this on short notice. They’re both relatively fit, but again, five-round fit, that’s the one. I know it’s short notice, but five-round fit, that’s crazy.”

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Adesanya emphasized the intense mindset required for such a high-stakes, short-notice fight. “Someone’s going to die — that’s going to be the mindset, either he finishes me, or I finish him. That’s the mindset you have to have if you’re taking a short notice fight, five rounds. Because holding on for five rounds, if you’re not fit, it’s a bad time. Bad as hell. So you have to go in there and just be like, either he dies, or I die.”