UFC 303 takeaways: Is Pereira-Adesanya 3 inevitable?

Alex Pereira retained the UFC mild heavyweight title for the second time Saturday, defeating Jiri Prochazka by way of second-round TKO within the UFC 303 fundamental occasion in Las Vegas.

Within the co-headliner, surging featherweight Diego Lopes took a unanimous choice over last-minute substitute Dan Ige, who unprecedentedly accepted the battle on three hours’ discover after Brian Ortega withdrew attributable to an sickness.

Listed below are 4 takeaways from the pay-per-view occasion.

Pereira a degree above Prochazka

Forward of their first battle at UFC 295, and even forward of the rematch, everyone talked about how Pereira and Prochazka have been equals, two of the hardest-hitting and wildest fighters on the planet, two immovable forces colliding within the middle of the Octagon. Everyone talked about how they may have 100 fights and win 50 every, how we would see a special end result every time.

It is smart when you think about what they’d achieved in MMA. Prochazka was 3-0 within the promotion heading into UFC 295 with devastating knockouts of Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes and a shocking, title-winning submission of Glover Teixeira. Pereira had already crushed the likes of Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Jan Blachowicz one-and-a-half years into his UFC profession. These have been certainly two of the UFC’s greatest – and most violent – mild heavyweights. And it felt like both of them may beat the opposite at any given time.

However Pereira proved Saturday with one other knockout win over Prochazka that he’s, in reality, a degree above the previous champion. Pereira made it look simpler than final time. Prochazka landed 30 important strikes within the first battle, and Pereira held him to simply seven within the rematch. Pereira stayed composed on the ft and managed the motion. He appeared extra comfy than earlier than. And when he noticed the precise opening, “Poatan” blasted his newest sufferer with a excessive kick to the dome and sealed the cope with brutal ground-and-pound.

Prochazka is an elite fighter, however Pereira’s energy gave him an excessive amount of of an edge on this explicit stylistic matchup (which can also be true in most of Pereira’s fights). His UFC 295 win was not significantly convincing in that he would beat Prochazka greater than half the time, however his UFC 303 win was very convincing. Ultimately, there was nothing even near flukey about both of Pereira’s knockouts.

Pereira separated himself from Prochazka – and, by default, the remainder of the 205-pound division – in a manner nobody may’ve imagined was attainable 14 months in the past when Pereira was reeling from a knockout loss to Adesanya in his first middleweight title protection and Prochazka was thought-about the UFC’s high mild heavyweight. Pereira continues to amaze, and simply shy of his thirty seventh birthday, he by some means appears to be getting higher.

Pereira-Adesanya 3 may very well be coming

Who would not wish to watch Pereira and Adesanya sq. off for a 3rd time?

It wasn’t way back that the 2 rivals gave the impression to be heading in reverse instructions – Adesanya misplaced the middleweight belt to Strickland, and Pereira, in fact, moved to mild heavyweight and gained that title. However there’s an opportunity we may see the trilogy bout come to fruition within the not-too-distant future.

Adesanya is scheduled to problem Dricus Du Plessis and can try and develop into a three-time 185-pound champion at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. If Adesanya regains the throne, a champ-versus-champ rubber match towards his nemesis and the person he knocked out in April 2023 – and who knocked him out in November 2022 – could also be too profitable of a battle for the UFC brass to move up.

“They’re nonetheless on the high of their recreation,” White mentioned of Pereira and Adesanya on the UFC 303 postfight press convention. “You might (ebook the third battle).”

That is not what Robert Whittaker and Magomed Ankalaev, who’ve comparatively sturdy arguments for the subsequent middleweight and lightweight heavyweight title shot, respectively, wish to hear. However these two must be ready to attend some time longer if Adesanya beats Du Plessis in August. The Pereira trilogy bout – at 205 kilos, to provide Adesanya one other shot at changing into a two-division champion – would possibly simply be the largest battle the UFC may make proper now.

Dana’s proper: Lopes, Ige are studs

Lopes and Ige deserve all of the reward after which some after saving the UFC 303 co-main occasion. UFC CEO Dana White referred to as them “absolute studs,” and he is bang on.

Beginning with Ige, he was taking a nap at his dwelling in Las Vegas when the UFC referred to as him to see if he would head over to T-Cell Enviornment and battle Lopes on actually a couple of hours’ discover within the co-feature of the annual Worldwide Struggle Week pay-per-view. Ige mentioned sure, and the Nevada State Athletic Fee (NSAC) accepted the brand new matchup. Stepping in the best way Ige did is dangerous and takes huge guts.

Lopes ought to get simply as a lot credit score for agreeing to battle Ige after such a busy week. For starters, it was a totally completely different stylistic matchup – Ige is a striker and Ortega is primarily a grappler. It was additionally a totally completely different weight class. Lopes was speculated to battle Ortega at 145 kilos, after which 155 kilos after Ortega was unable to make weight. After which in the long run, Lopes-Ige was contracted at a 165-pound catchweight the night time of the battle. Ige, who had been in coaching camp for a July 20 bout, didn’t have to chop weight.

Lopes obtained the unanimous choice victory, and he is due for an additional massive battle subsequent. Lopes is ranked No. 14 within the featherweight division and driving a four-fight successful streak. Ige, No. 13 within the division, impressed in defeat. He gained the third spherical and rallied arduous for a come-from-behind knockout. He walked away with an ethical victory.

“He did not lose,” White mentioned of Ige. “You may’t lose. While you are available like Ige got here in and also you do what he did, this isn’t a loss. … He already had an incredible quantity of road cred. And it simply went by means of the roof tonight.”

This co-main occasion – and all of the distinctive circumstances round it – will give each Lopes and Ige plenty of new followers.

“While you give (Ige) that degree of respect, it’s important to give it to Diego Lopes,” White mentioned. “That man went by means of hell this week.”

Garry wants a top-five opponent subsequent

Ian Machado Garry confronted some criticism after his unanimous choice win over Michael “Venom” Web page within the UFC 303 main-card opener. It was a detailed battle and will’ve gone both manner. And for a 26-year-old who is taken into account the way forward for the welterweight division, it wasn’t an excessively memorable efficiency.

That mentioned, Garry’s victory over Web page wasn’t almost as unhealthy as some so-called followers are pretending. Web page is a difficult fighter to compete towards, a troublesome code to crack. He has an unorthodox karate fashion and a really lengthy attain for 170 kilos. The truth that Garry managed to eke out a win is spectacular sufficient. The Irishman leaned significantly on his grappling, which demonstrates that he had a strong recreation plan getting in and is a mature fighter.

Now that we all know Garry can beat the likes of Web page and Geoff Neal, it’s time to discover out if he’s a reliable title contender. Garry ought to battle a top-five opponent subsequent, doubtlessly with a crack at Leon Edwards’ belt on the road. Former champion Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, and Shavkat Rakhmonov would all be nice foes – no matter makes essentially the most sense scheduling-wise is whom the UFC ought to go along with.