Kiwi UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya expects to make light work of Jared Cannonier, when the two face off at UFC 276 at Las Vegas next weekend, admitting he already has one eye on a slice of revenge.
'The Last Stylebender' will put his belt on the line for a fifth time, when he takes on the American on July 3 (NZ time), as the headline act in a stacked card, which also features City Kickboxing teammates Alexander Volkanvoski defending his featherweight title in a trilogy fight with Max Holloway and lightweight Brad Riddell, who takes on Jalin Turner.
The second-ranked 'Killa Gorilla' (15-5) enters the contest buoyed by an emphatic TKO win over Derek Brunson, which followed a unanimous decision win over Kelvin Gastelum. Before that, he lost a hard-fought decision to former champion Robert Whittaker.
Adesanya is experienced enough to realise he can't underestimate any opponent, but says - after consecutive decision wins - he's eager to get back to his finishing ways and Cannonier presents a prime opportunity to do precisely that.
The 32-year-old predicts the bout will look similar to his two-round domination of Paulo Costa in September 2020, when he toyed with the Brazilian, before finishing him with a flurry of punches and elbows.
"He's a guy that packs a lot," Adesanya said. "He still carries that strength around, so I can’t overlook him, but I don't think he'll be the toughest challenger.
"I honestly think I'll make this easy. I really believe I'll make this look easy come July 3.
"I'll give you a prediction - it's going to be fun. It's going to look a lot like the Costa fight, minus the little tap-tap at the end."
Cannonier's mixture of power and athleticism poses a different challenge for Adesanya, who's coming off a decision win in his rematch with Whittaker in February.
Having another puzzle to solve has him rejuvenated, after closing the book - at least for now - on his saga with 'Bobby Knuckles', who'll likely remain in the proximity of title contention.
"[Whittaker], he's a great fighter, I'll give it to him," Adesanya said. "But I know how that book ends, I've read that book twice already.
"First time was a quick read, the second time a little bit longer… if we fight again, I know how that book ends.
"That's why I'm excited about this next fight. Some new blood, someone I've never fought before.
"If [Whittaker] wants it, he should go up to 205 [light-heavyweight], see what that's about, maybe try that for a little bit, but I don't like reading the same book over and over again."
As it turns out, if Adesanya can get past Cannonier - as he's highly favoured to do - he may have a challenger in waiting, with Sean Strickland and Alex Pereira doing battle in what shapes as a title eliminator contest on the UFC 276 undercard.
After beaten Adesanya twice during their days with the Glory Kickboxing promotion, Brazilian Pereira has long been touted as a potential opponent.
In their second bout in 2017, Pereira - a former Glory dual division world champion - switched Adesanya's lights out with a devastating left hook under - still the only knockout defeat on his record.
Since signing with the UFC last year, Pereira (now 5-1 in MMA) has won both of his match-ups, one with a highlight-reel flying knee knockout, but he's yet to be officially ranked and many say it's too soon to rush Pereira into the Octagon against Adesanya - a notion the Kiwi-Nigerian quickly dismisses.
"I don’t like this narrative of, 'It’s too quick, it's too quick for Pereira'," he said. "Jiri [Prochazka] just fought for and won the belt in his third fight in the UFC. Anderson [Silva] did it in his second fight… so that's fine, he's new to MMA."
While he may have been on the wrong side of the ledger against Pereira in the kickboxing ring, Adesanya said The Octagon would be a whole different proposition.
"This isn't kickboxing, this is mixed martial arts," Adesanya said. "These ain't big pillow gloves, these are four-ounce deadly weapons that I can't wait to drive through his face, after I go through Jared Cannonier."
Given the way Adesanya has laid waste to a queue of challengers at middleweight and the lack of clearcut contenders, the two may soon be back for a trilogy bout under the UFC banner.
Join us at 12pm, Sunday July 3 for live updates of UFC 276: Adesanya v Cannonier
