There may be a brand new king within the UFC middleweight division, however one fighter within the weight class is off the assumption the present champion isn’t the hardest combat on the market.
After Alex Pereira claimed the belt from Israel Adesanya with a fifth-round TKO at UFC 281 in November, many fighters and pundits voiced a perception that the Brazilian is simply champion as a result of he was rigorously guided to the highest with useful stylistic matchups.
Punahele Soriano, who is ready to satisfy Roman Kopylov at UFC Combat Night time 217, which takes place Jan. 14 on the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+, is of the thoughts that Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is a extra winnable matchup for a lot of 185-pound fighters in comparison with Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC), regardless of the head-to-head outcomes between placing standouts.
“I nonetheless really feel like Izzy’s the way in which tougher combat than Alex,” Soriano informed MMA Junkie. “Simply from that portion the place Izzy held him down (on the bottom), I felt like that made him the simpler combat. However he’s received the nuclear choice as effectively, which is tremendous scary. However I nonetheless assume Izzy’s approach tougher of a combat than Alex. And no offense. I don’t need Alex to be mad at me and smash me on the streets for some cause.”
Soriano made it clear he’s not making an attempt to be disrespectful to Pereira. The five-fight octagon veteran is aware of he’s not anyplace near the title dialog, so his opinion needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
It doesn’t imply Soriano (9-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) isn’t making an attempt to get there, although. He’s seeking to begin a promising 2023 marketing campaign in opposition to Kopylov (9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC), and shall be on the lookout for a highlight-reel consequence.
“I’ve all the time form of puzzled if I simply hold profitable spectacularly,” Soriano mentioned. “No matter what anybody says, what occurs if from the Dalcha (Lungiambula) combat to this combat to no matter’s subsequent, what if I simply hold profitable the following one spectacularly? I don’t know. We’ll see what occurs. That’s my purpose, is simply to win the following one spectacularly.
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC Combat Night time 217.
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Alex Pereira def. Israel Adesanya at UFC 281: Greatest images
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Punahele Soriano def. Dalcha Lungiambula at UFC on ABC 3: Greatest images
