Israel Adesanya Predicts Magomed Ankalaev vs Alex Pereira 2 at UFC 320

On Saturday night, Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira will rematch with the UFC light heavyweight title on the line yet again in one of the most highly anticipated fights of 2025 so far.

Ankalaev and Pereira fought each other back in March at UFC 313, where the Russian ended Pereira’s 16-month-long reign as champion. Although the first fight was somewhat underwhelming, given the Brazilian’s lack of aggressiveness in the striking department, his success in the grappling has made people believe he will come out fearless of the takedown and could put in a vintage performance. Despite people’s hopes of a Pereira victory, most fans and analysts are siding with Ankalaev to retain his title, and the bookmakers also have the Russian as a sizeable betting favourite.

Although most people are siding with Ankalaev, UFC legend Dustin Poirier, earlier this week, backed Pereira to get his title back. To add to Poirier being one of the very few fighters to pick ‘Poatan’ to win, Israel Adesanya, who is, of course, Pereira’s main rival in combat sports, has also backed him to win, even predicting the exact method.

Israel Adesanya Believes There’s a Clear Winner in UFC 320 Main Event

Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya may have one of the best and most bitter rivalries in modern-day UFC history. However ‘The Last Stylebender’ is backing ‘Poatan’ to regain his UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 320.

During a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, where he was predicting the pay-per-view, Adesanya went into detail about his pick, citing Pereira’s motivation and added preparation as the main reasons he is backing him.

There was a lot of talk coming out of the first fight between Ankalaev and Pereira about the Brazilian’s activity and hectic schedule hindering his performance, so a lengthy spell outside the Octagon may have done ‘Poatan’ good. Adesanya also mentioned Pereira being motivated, which is another thing which has been spoken about, as he is definitely towards the latter stage of his career, so it is good to know he is fired up as opposed to being comfortable with whatever outcome.

A win for Pereira will almost certainly see a rubber match between the pair. However, if Ankalaev gets the better of the 38-year-old former champion, it is tough to see how the Brazilian gets another crack at becoming a three-time UFC titleholder. The biggest rematch of 2025 is now just hours away.