Eugene Bareman, the head coach of Israel Adesanya has a ton of confidence that his pupil will beat Alex Pereira in the rematch.
At UFC 281, Pereira and Adesanya fought for the third time – the first in MMA, with Pereira winning both in kickboxing – and once again, it was the Brazilian getting his hand raised. Through four rounds, Adesanya was cruising to a win, but in the fifth round, Pereira landed some big shots and got a TKO stoppage.
Since the fight was over, it was clear the two would likely run it back and Eugene Bareman is confident Adesanya has the tools to beat Pereira.
Eugene Bareman’s Statement
“We’re quietly confident,” Bareman told Submission Radio (h/t MMAJunkie). “You got to understand, we were winning that fight relatively comfortably. We felt we were taking the rounds. But not comfortable enough – when you’re fighting somebody like that, whose game plan appears to be, it’s not a guy who builds his game plan around accumulation of damage.”
“He’s a guy that builds his game plan around mentally wearing down and trying to land one big shot. And he’s comfortable giving rounds and then not panicking, because he gives away rounds, and it’s part of a bigger picture for him, setting up what he ultimately is looking for. And with a few adjustments, we can make some changes there and build on a lot of positive things that happened in that fight for us.”
As of right now, the fight has not been booked but Eugene Bareman is confident that Adesanya will get the rematch he wants. He believes as a long-reigning champ, he deserves the opportunity to prove he can beat Pereira.
With the loss to Alex Pereira, Israel Adesanya dropped to 23-2 as a pro with the loss being his first at middleweight. Prior to losing, he had defended his middleweight title five times. Pereira, meanwhile, is now 7-1 and has won seven straight and is 4-0 in the UFC.
Do you agree with Eugene Bareman?
