5 reasons why Alex Pereira will not repeat Israel Adesanya's success in the UFC

#4. He is more vulnerable to wrestling

While Alex Pereira's heavy reliance on his lead left hook makes him more hittable compared to Adesanya, it also makes him more susceptible to takedowns.

To land his preferred punch, Pereira must first square his hips before twisting his torso into his left hook. Unfortunately, the squaring of his hips means that they're exposed and in prime position to be targeted for takedowns.

The resulting risk is that an elite wrestler might be able to step into range to draw out Pereira's left hook, then duck under the punch for a takedown on his exposed hips.

Many will be reluctant to strike against Alex Pereira. If his kickboxing style makes it easier for opponents to avoid engaging him in the stand-up phase by timing their takedowns, his foes will certainly do so, especially considering Pereira's relative rawness on the ground.

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#3. Pereira's defensive footwork

One of Pereira's defining traits is his monstrous knockout power. His nickname 'Poatan' translates to 'Stone Hand' and this fearsome ability to end his opponents is often what allows Pereira to dictate the pace of his bouts.

A high-percentage risk of suffering a knockout can render fighters not only tentative when engaging their opponents, but it may even cause them to deviate from their primary style. A classic case was Ryan Bader's wariness against Anthony Johnson.

Although Bader sought to use his wrestling to neutralize Johnson's power-punching, his fear of Johnson's power caused him to panic and shoot for takedowns out of range, rendering his takedowns easy for Johnson to defend.

Similarly, opponents who strike with Pereira are often so fearful of his power that they allow him to lead the fight and dictate its pace. However, whenever Pereira is not allowed to pressure his opponent, a chink in his armor is revealed. When Pereira himself is pressured, he moves linearly, retreating in a straight line. This makes it easy for him to get backed up to the fence.

An opponent interested in implementing a wrestling gameplan against him can opt to back him up to the cage, where Alex Pereira does not flatten out his stance to shuffle from side to side and circle back into open space.

As the current wrestling approach in MMA is to use the cage to facilitate takedowns, an opponent with a wrestling-heavy gameplan may cause problems for Pereira.