UFC 234: Fired up Israel Adesanya Weighs-In on Anderson Silva’s Coaching Choice

Anderson Silva has enlisted the coaching services of a man who owns a knockout win over Israel Adesanya, and it looks like “The Last Style Bender” has some strong opinions on the matter.

Silva will face the rising middleweight in the co-headliner of UFC 234 this Saturday, which is going down in Melbourne, Australia. One of the men who has been helping the legend prepare for the fight is Alex Pereira, who is the kickboxing promotion GLORY’s, middleweight champ. Pereira faced Adesanya under the GLORY banner back in 2016 and 2017. In their first bout, Pereira won the fight via decision, in the rematch, however, he knocked Adesanya out.

Well, recently Adesanya spoke with MMA Junkie, and while discussing the fact Pereira has been part of Sila’s camp, the rising star said this:

“How in the (expletive) is Alex Pereira going to help him train for my style?” Adesanya said. “Because, OK, he knocked me out in the second fight. He beat me once before.

“But people forget, the second round, I had him on skates, but I didn’t stay true to my style. I listened to other people’s opinions that slowly slipped into me after the GLORY fight – (expletive) GLORY after the GLORY fight, by the way.”

There you have it. It’s certainly true that mixed-martial-arts is a completely different game than kickboxing, as obviously there are no takedown attempts. It’s also worth noting that GLORY doesn’t allow for elbows, and there’s limited action in the clinch.

But, Pereira could very well have provided Silva some insights, in terms of what he should look out for while facing Adesanya. Will it be enough, however, for Silva to score the massive upset?

Here is the line-up for UFC 234.

MAIN CARD (PPV)

UFC Middleweight Championship
Robert Whittaker (c) vs. Kelvin Gastelum

Middleweight: Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva

Bantamweight: Rani Yahya vs. Ricky Simon

Lightweight: Devonte Smith vs. Dong Hyun Ma

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN)

Featherweight: Shane Young vs. Austin Arnett

Female Flyweight: Montana De La Rosa vs. Nadia Kasseum

Flyweight: Kai-Kara France vs. Raulian Paiva

Bantamweight: Teruto Ishihara vs. Kyung Ho Kang

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass)