For the fourth time in combat sports as a whole, and second time inside the octagon, Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya will throw down atop UFC 287 in Miami, Florida on Saturday.
Just about every fighter, arguably, has their Achilles heel, or perhaps their nightmare opponent. To date, that fighter for Adesanya has been “Poatan,” the brick-fisted Brazilian who mounted a fifth-round comeback to claim Izzy’s middleweight title last November.
The loss marked Adesanya’s third against Pereira, after coming up short against him twice in the pair’s kickboxing days, with one fight going to decision, and the other ending in a knockout in a similar come-from-behind victory by Pereira that foreshadowed their UFC 281 encounter.
The co-main event of UFC 287 sees Miami’s own Jorge Masvidal finally fighting in his hometown, 20 years on from the last UFC event in the city— which Masvidal attended as a fan. In the sunset of his fighting career, Masivdal has drawn a tough match-up with Gilbert Burns, but has seemingly had more animosity with Kevin Holland this week.
Our staff have their picks in place — here’s how we see the UFC 287 main card playing out at the Miami-Dade Arena on Saturday night.
| Writer | Rosas Jr. vs. Rodriguez | Holland vs. Ponzinibbio | Font vs. Yanez | Burns vs. Masvidal | Pereira vs. Adesanya |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Theodosi (31-16) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Mike McClory (19-10) | | | | |  |
| Alex Behunin (30-17) | | |  | | |
| Val Dewar (30-17) | | | | | |
| Chris Prawdzik (29-18) | |  | | | |
| Eddie Law (24-23) | | | |  | |
| Jay Anderson (23-24) | | | | | |
| Dylan Rush (21-26) |  | | | | |
| Jason Payne (0-0) | | | | | |
It should be no surprise to see 18-year old Raul Rosas Jr. picked as a landslide selection to get the win over Christian Rodriguez in the main card opener at UFC 287. All but one of our writers sided with the youngster, who is riding a massive wave of popularity into the fight. Much like his debut against Jay Perrin, this has the feel of a showcase fight for Rosas Jr.; questions about how Rodriguez was handling the pressure were only amplified when he missed weight at Friday morning’s official weigh-in.
Perhaps surprisingly, the odds are similarly against Jorge Masvidal in his fight with Gilbert Burns. Faced with a dangerous grappler possessing solid wrestling abilities, Masvidal does not have a favorable match-up stylistically. All but one of our writers, as a result, expect it to be game over for “Gamebred” in Miami.
Things were a little closer in the case of Kevin Holland vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio, but it was the “Trailblazer” (or “Big Mouth,” if you prefer) with the edge. The same 6-3 margin that favored Holland versus the Argentinian also favored Adrian Yanez in his bantamweight fight with Rob Font.
Which brings us to the UFC 287 main event, where Israel Adesanya looks to finally get one over on Alex Pereira. The closest fight on the card for our staff, Pereira took a slight edge, with the vote 5-4 in the champ’s favor. That runs counter to the betting line, with Adesanya a slight favorite to win at -135. Either way, the general consensus is that it’s a close one to call, especially given Adesanya was clearly ahead in the pair’s last encounter before Pereira pulled off the comeback.
