One man dazzled while the other cruised, but it looks as though Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira managed to set themselves on a collision course at UFC 276.
There were plenty of storylines going into the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s massive offering on Independence Day weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but none bigger than the potential for a clash between reigning middleweight champ Adesanya and Pereira, a relative MMA neophyte who owns two wins over “The Last Stylebender” in the kickboxing ring. The UFC clearly understood the appeal of the possible matchup, as evidenced by booking them on the same card, ensuring that they would participate in press conferences together and be generally forced to rub elbows for the better part of a week.