UFC No. 2 bantamweight Sean O'Malley explained why he decided to bet $10,000 on Israel Adesanya to win a rematch with middleweight champion Alex Pereira on April 8 at UFC 287.
Alex is cutting 20 pounds, 25 pounds, fight week, your chin goes, your brain fluid. Izzy really doesn't have to land clean too many times if he's cutting that much weight I think he'll come out and wrestle. I feel like he's gonna come out, he's got a couple maybe good takedowns, come out wrestle, put him on his back, really get him thinking, he might not be able to march forward as much.
Sean O'Malley on his YouTube channel
The first meeting in the UFC between Adesanya and Pereira took place in November 2022 as part of the 281st numbered tournament. That confrontation ended with Alex winning by TKO in the fifth round.
The 33-year old Adesanya has 23 wins and two losses under his belt. Pereira, 35, had seven wins and one loss.