Midnight Mania! Israel Adesanya predicts UFC 275, favors ‘awkward’ Jiri over ‘intelligent’ Teixeira

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Israel Adesanya always has his eyes on the Light Heavyweight division. Though the Middleweight kingpin has made it clear that his current intentions are focused on 185-pound greatness, he’s tried to claim two-division champion status previously, and at some point, he probably will again.

In short, “Stylebender” has a vested interest in UFC 275’s main event, which pits Glover Teixeira opposite Jiri Prochazka with a belt on the line. While speaking on his YouTube channel, Adesanya offered up his thoughts on the match up.

“One thing I like about people like Jiri is they just come out of nowhere and just take a whole new aspect of martial arts and immerse themselves in it and then we get to witness it and see the devastation,” Adesanya said (via MMANews). “When it comes time to fight the striking is awkward, but it works for him he’s long, he’s rangy, fights hands down, good looks.”

“Glover’s much more intelligent with his striking, he is much more textbook, is much more disciplined too,” he continued. “Jiri’s much more expressive with striking and also they both come forward and fight so who can make the other person take more of a back step and will work.”

As for an actual prediction, Adesanya leans towards “The Czech Samurai,” partly because of the style match up. Notably, Prochazka enters his first title shot as a nearly 2-1 favorite over the Brazilian, though Teixeira is no stranger to winning as the underdog.

“If I’m gonna bet I’m gonna go with Jiri, young, energy, tall, rangy, awkward, Glover’s had problems with them the past was why we fight because now we’re in the present,” Adesanya explained. “So he has to be patient.”

We’ll find out tomorrow evening.

LIVE! Watch UFC 275 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

HISTORY IN THE MAKING! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will stage its first-ever numbered pay-per-view (PPV) event in Southeast Asia with “Teixeira vs. Prochazka” from inside Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, on Sat., June 11, 2022. In UFC 275’s PPV main event, Light Heavyweight champion, Glover Teixeira, will lock horns with No. 2-ranked berserker, Jiri Prochazka, while women’s Flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko, tangles with No. 5-seeded Taila Santos in the co-feature. And, of course, Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Zhang Weili will run back their epic 2020 “Fight of the Year,” with the winner likely earning a future Strawweight title shot against division queenpin, Carla Esparza.

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