Anthony Smith has given his thoughts on which UFC middleweight could dethrone current champion Israel Adesanya.

At UFC 271, Israel Adesanya continued his dominant reign as the 185-pound king with a decision win over Robert Whittaker. While some disagreed with him getting the nod, the evidence for Whittaker winning simply wasn’t decisive enough to warrant it being called a robbery.

Now, it seems as if he’s gearing up for a meeting with Jared Cannonier – potentially as soon as the June pay-per-view.

Anthony Smith, a former middleweight himself, recently gave the name of a man who he thinks could be the one to finally knock Adesanya off of his pedestal.

“I think the guy that’s probably got the best chance, and this is gonna be a crazy statement, he’s in the UFC but he’s not ranked. I think it’s Alex Pereira. This kid is good. The problem with Alex is he’s gonna have a tough time getting to Israel. There’s a lot of high level wrestlers, some good jiu-jitsu guys, I think his hardest path is to get to him. I’m not putting a whole lot of weight into him already knocking Israel out in another organisation and in another sport. He’s a guy who can fight Israel at his exact same game. He plays the same game, fights very similar, he’s very comfortable. He’ll keep the fight slow but explode when he has to. He’s got the power and the kicking ability, which is really big when it comes to Israel Adesanya. That’s why Jan Blachowicz was so successful.”

Pereira, who returns to the Octagon next month to face Bruno Silva, has previously beaten “The Last Stylebender” twice in their kickboxing days.

Does Alex Pereira have what it takes to defeat Israel Adesanya in mixed martial arts? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments, BJPENN Nation!