Israel Adesanya has been told his time as middleweight champion will be over when he fights Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in November.
Adesanya, 33, is scheduled to make the sixth defence of his 185lb belt against Pereira at Madison Square Garden. The pair have a lengthy history, with Pereira outpointing Adesanya in their first kickboxing meeting six years ago and brutally knocking him out in their 2017 rematch. Pereira, who is 6-1 in MMA, has earned a title shot after three fights in the UFC.
Top middleweight Marvin Vettori, who has lost twice to Adesanya, could be next in line for a middleweight title shot if he gets past former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC Paris this Saturday. Vettori slammed Adesanya's "bull****" antics and predicted his title reign will be ended by Pereira when the pair meet in New York.
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"His time is over," Vettori said of Adesanya to Mirror Fighting . "I don't even believe anybody really likes him. It's over. His whole antics are bull****, he says one thing but never does it. He talks the talk but never walks the walk. I don't want to look past this fight because it's very important, but if things plan out the way I think they're going to play out, you're going to see me fight Pereira after this fight."
Adesanya has been criticised for his recent performances, with fans labelling him as "boring" and even leaving the T-Mobile Arena before the last round of his most recent title defence at UFC 276. UFC boss Dana White has guaranteed Adesanya's fight against Pereira will be "nuts" due to both fighters having some of the best striking skills in the promotion.
Vettori believes that because Adesanya's transitioned to MMA earlier than Pereira, it will work against him in the upcoming title fight. "[Pereira] had a couple of extra years where he was just focusing on kickboxing, it might not seem a lot but once you just focus on one thing it's a whole different story," he added.
"So I believe he has the advantage on the standup for sure, Adesanya's not going to try and take him down, definitely not. I don't mind this guy [Pereira], he's quiet and brings it. There's not much bull**** around him, I'd definitely prefer him as the champion than Adesanya."
