It is no surprise that after a shocking defeat to Alex Pereira at the UFC 281, Israel Adesanya will be getting a rematch to with a chance to regain his belt in the main event of UFC 287 on April 8.
Israel goes into this match with all to fight for. With a second straight defeat, the 33-year-old Nigerian-born fighter is at risk of falling off the top of the division.
The bookmakers are expecting a win for Israel, but we expect it to be even closer than the first fight and would advise anyone betting on this fight to think long and hard before making a wager.
At UFC 281 Drake Lost $2 million betting on Adesanya (About 1.5 Billion Naira). Such huge sums may raise some eyebrows, while in fact they really should not. In 2021, 3 years after the legalization of sports betting in the United States, legal U.S sportsbooks generated a combined $4.29bn in revenue.
We wonder on who and how much Drake will bet on this time, but one thing is for sure, the last fight is still fresh on everyone’s minds and based on what happened then it would be hard to count out Pereira.
After being down on the scorecards for most of the fight, the 35-year-old managed to score a dramatic stoppage in the fifth round.
That match was just Pereira’s fourth UFC bout and his eighth career overall. With a record of seven wins and one defeat, the Brazilian is a rising star is as dangerous as they come.
For Israel this was the second defeat in his 25 MMA career fights. The other was when he moved up a weight class to fight Jan Blachowicz.
This is why this rematch means everything to Israel and why it is a chance at redemption for him.
There is a long history that predates the two fighters before they ventured into UFC. They met twice in their kickboxing careers and Pereira won both, one being in knockout.
This kind of long-term rivalry is a good sell for the game as it gives the fans what many want to see.
Will Israel has step up his game or will Pereira establish himself UFC Middleweight division top dog?
Come April 8th we will all find out.
