Alex Pereira vs. prime Anderson Silva fantasy match-up predicted by Israel Adesanya: "I fought both of them, so I know"

Israel Adesanya has predicted how a potential matchup between Alex Pereira and the prime version of Anderson Silva would have played out. Adesanya claimed his prediction to be credible due to his record of locking horns with both Pereira and Silva.

Pereira and Adesanya have faced each other four times so far, including a couple of encounters inside the kickboxing ring. The current UFC light heavyweight champ defeated his rival in both these meetings, leading Adesanya to join the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Pereira also made his entry into the UFC in 2021. The third encounter between the two fighters happened at UFC 281, marking their first bout under MMA rules. 'Poatan' earned a victory before losing the final installment of the rivalry at UFC 287.

On the other hand, Adesanya picked a unanimous decision victory over Anderson Silva in their lone encounter at UFC 234.

'The Last Stylebender' spoke about a potential fight between the two Brazilian former middleweight champions in one of his recent YouTube videos. After some initial confusion, he revealed his prediction, saying:

"I fought both of them, so I know. I'd be leaning [towards] prime Anderson [Silva to take away the win]. But again, wooh [it'll be close]. But Imm'a lean [towards] prime Anderson."

Check out Adesanya's comments below (34:12):

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Daniel Cormier expressed worries about Alex Pereira's upcoming encounter

Alex Pereira graced the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, for UFC 312. Various social media updates indicated that 'Poatan' probably stayed back in the country for several days after the event ended. One such update also showcased Pereira's meetup with rapper Drake.

However, Daniel Cormier didn't view Pereira's decision to stay back in Australia as a positive one. In a recent episode of ESPN MMA's Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast, Cormier said Pereira should've gotten back to training since his upcoming encounter isn't too far away. He detailed how 'Poatan's' rival, Magomed Ankalaev, had already started sharpening his weapons for their UFC 312 encounter.

'DC' said:

"What is Pereira still doing in Australia? He fights in two weeks... Ankalaev’s already here, he’s in Vegas, I ran into him at the UFC PI last week. He is honestly so locked in, ready to win this fight against Alex Pereira."

Check out Cormier's comments below (33:56):