Israel Adesanya gave a special mention to Paddy Pimblett while making UFC 313 predictions.
On Wednesday, ‘The Last Stylebender’ backed Alex Pereira to KO Magomed Ankalaev when they clash for light heavyweight gold at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Israel Adesanya also broke down several undercard fights, including the return of Bobby ‘King’ Green.
The American lightweight hasn’t fought since being choked unconscious by Paddy Pimblett, who impressed the two-time middleweight champion, at UFC 304 last July.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Green will try to get back in the win column against rising star Mauricio Ruffy this weekend.
Adesanya is particularly excited about their fight, which he is sure will be ‘f—— crazy’.
Before getting into his Green vs Ruffy prediction, the future Hall of Famer took a moment to highlight the amazing job Pimblett did to quickly take out an opponent many people predicted would beat him.
“I remember that fight being flawless, and I was shocked,” Adesanya said.
“I thought Bobby would be the favorite to take that and then Paddy stole the show.”
Pimblett pocketed $200,000 in bonus money for easily beating his toughest opponent to date.
However, he recently got an even bigger reward in the form of a fight with long-time contender Michael Chandler.
The 155lb duo are set to scrap in a five-round co-main event at UFC 314 in Florida on April 14.
Pimblett hopes that a win over Chandler could lead to a mega-money clash with Conor McGregor.
“Sounds very tasty,” Pimblett said when asked about a fight with McGregor by Round Eight Boxing.
“A lot of people have said this to me already, ‘Beat Chandler, take the McGregor fight.’
“Obviously, it’s the biggest fight in the sport, the biggest fight we’ve ever seen.”
Alex PereiraBobby GreenIsrael AdesanyaMMAPaddy PimblettUFCUFC 313
