Izzy-Pereira 4 is being framed in overly simplistic terms

RespectTheWarriors

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First off, I am not an Izzy fan and I believe Pereira is the infinitely more likeable human being. I am rooting for Alex 100%.

I know some people have a very hard time overlooking that the record on paper is 0-3. The idea that Alex has Izzy's number and is the clearly superior striker is an obvious conclusion. But let's look at the bare facts of their previous matchups.

First fight: The consensus is that it was a close competitive decision that could have gone to Izzy without controversy.

Second fight: Pereira got a standing 8-count before the knockout victory. The referee stepped in as he was taking damage to determine if he could safely continue which gave him time to recover and compose himself. He didn't look terribly hurt to me but the momentum was clearly in Izzy's favour before the intervention.

Third fight: Adesanya badly hurt Alex at the end of the first round. Pereira does not dispute that he was badly hurt. Credit it to him for his honesty and for recovering well enough to win the following round. Israel was up on the scorecards before the fifth round finish.


Reasonable observers can safely conclude that Izzy is entirely capable of badly hurting Alex on the feet and that he is capable of doing it before Alex gets to him. None of the fights transpired the same way so confident predictions about how Alex has Izzy's number are simplistic. There is also the fact that they have only fought MMA once. We can already see with the standing 8 count that there is a disconnect between kickboxing and MMA.

As an aside, this fight reminds me of Wanderlei vs Rampage. Obviously Wanderlei was washed in their trilogy fight but after he beat Rampage twice people spoke as though he had his number. Meanwhile Rampage fought Liddell the night of their first fight while Wanderlei fought Yoshida. And the ref stood them up when Rampage was beating him up on the ground in their second fight. But fans were acting like he had Rampage's number. He was 2-0, you see. Again, the trilogy didn't prove much but my point is that there is more to just the numbers.
 
I, for one, agree. Hear hear!
 
As an aside, this fight reminds me of Wanderlei vs Rampage. Obviously Wanderlei was washed in their trilogy fight but after he beat Rampage twice people spoke as though he had his number. Meanwhile Rampage fought Liddell the night of their first fight while Wanderlei fought Yoshida. And the ref stood them up when Rampage was beating him up on the ground in their second fight. But fans were acting like he had Rampage's number. He was 2-0, you see. Again, the trilogy didn't prove much but my point is that there is more to just the numbers.

Did you have an account before?
 
Alex was green in 1st and 2nd fight and he still beated Izzy 3rd fight he did make huge mistakes let his guard down in 1st round last 5 seconds and Izzy hurt him he won 2nd easily 3rd was winning on feet before the stupid mistake.....

If you look he did more damage in 4th thats Alex round he saved energy for 5th and still won the round arguably 5th he dominated Pereira will destroy Izzy badly now watch this out he won't make same mistakes
 
I agree, I think they are much more closely matched than the 3-0 would indicate. I think Izzy very much capable of beating Pereira. I think it’s a near coin toss when they step in there, not inconceivable to still have lopsided results with near 50/50 odds. And before somebody calls me an Izzy fan, I can’t stand the guy.
 
Izzy fought like his usual awesome self in the last fight while Alex fought like crap, and somehow he still won.

If Alex remembers what combos and jabs are this time around, I think the striking skill difference between the two is going to be hugely in Alex's favor.
 
First fight was clearly Alex’s not sure why it’s people keep saying Izzy won. Then you’re argument is that Izzy hurt him before he knocked out Izzy stiff lol. The only reason Izzy wobbled Alex in the 3rd fight was obviously because the bell rang and Alex dropped his hands.

Yeah he’s hurt Alex but has not beaten Alex in 3 fights. That proves Alex is the better fighter when all you have to go off of is the couple moments Izzy had in 3 fights he lost.
 
This is actually the quintessential example of someone "having someone's number." The whole point of the expression is that one fighter/player/team is just as good, if not better than the opponent, but the opponent seemingly always finds a way to beat them. That explains this situation perfectly. Izzy is arguably a more skilled kickboxer than Poatan, and he's very clearly a more skilled mma fighter. Izzy has found success in all of their fights. And he actually "almost won" all of their fights. But in the end, Poatan managed to get the win.

Does that mean Poatan will win this fight? Of course not. But this a perfect example of why the phrase "having someone's number" exists in the first place.
 
I agree, I think they are much more closely matched than the 3-0 would indicate. I think Izzy very much capable of beating Pereira. I think it’s a near coin toss when they step in there, not inconceivable to still have lopsided results with near 50/50 odds. And before somebody calls me an Izzy fan, I can’t stand the guy.
Bro he’s 0-3 against him. He’s only had like 2 good moments against Alex in 3 fights. He was winning until he lost is the dumbest argument ever especially losing 3 fights against him. Alex has finished him twice ffs
 
I think he's referring to this same thread being made repeatedly.
I know I've seen it before.

Yeah, I won't pretend to be making some groundbreaking insights or even expressing original ideas. As the fight approaches, I have been seeing the simplistic narrative that I am disputing more and more from fans and fighters alike. I tried to put things objectively without bias.
 
This is actually the quintessential example of someone "having someone's number." The whole point of the expression is that one fighter/player/team is just as good, if not better than the opponent, but the opponent seemingly always finds a way to beat them. That explains this situation perfectly. Izzy is arguably a more skilled kickboxer than Poatan, and he's very clearly a more skilled mma fighter. Izzy has found success in all of their fights. And he actually "almost won" all of their fights. But in the end, Poatan managed to get the win.

Does that mean Poatan will win this fight? Of course not. But this a perfect example of why the phrase "having someone's number" exists in the first place.
In what way is Izzy more skilled. If he was more skilled he wouldn’t have lost 3 times to the guy. Alex came in and beat Izzy at his own sport he was dominant in. Alex is the more skilled striker
 
This is actually the quintessential example of someone "having someone's number." The whole point of the expression is that one fighter/player/team is just as good, if not better than the opponent, but the opponent seemingly always finds a way to beat them. That explains this situation perfectly. Izzy is arguably a more skilled kickboxer than Poatan, and he's very clearly a more skilled mma fighter. Izzy has found success in all of their fights. And he actually "almost won" all of their fights. But in the end, Poatan managed to get the win.

Does that mean Poatan will win this fight? Of course not. But this a perfect example of why the phrase "having someone's number" exists in the first place.

You make an interesting point and I have seen the expression used similarly to how you described it. But it seems to me to be more commonly used to describe a scenario where one athlete or team can be reliably expected to beat the other based on previous head-to-head outcomes in a way that doesn't necessarily follow from outside results.
 
TS makes good points about the fight - why do you think Alex is that much of better person than Izzy?

I get that he is a bit cringe and could also be perceived as arrogant but he's not exactly Conor getting constant assault allegations or saying really shitty things about families or whatever.
 
Alex was green in 1st and 2nd fight and he still beated Izzy 3rd fight he did make huge mistakes let his guard down in 1st round last 5 seconds and Izzy hurt him he won 2nd easily 3rd was winning on feet before the stupid mistake.....

If you look he did more damage in 4th thats Alex round he saved energy for 5th and still won the round arguably 5th he dominated Pereira will destroy Izzy badly now watch this out he won't make same mistakes
Alex literally KOs Izzy stiff and finishes him brutally in another fight but “hEY IzZy WoBBled HiM OnCe iN 3 fIGHts” like it matters
 
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