Israel Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman is quietly confident ahead of a rematch with Alex Pereira.

The two middleweight contenders met last month at UFC 281 in Madison Square Garden. While it was their first meeting in the cage, the two had met previously twice as kickboxers. The Brazilian defeated Adesanya twice, even scoring a knockout win.

At UFC 281, ‘Poatan’ made a statement, and ended the long middleweight title reign of ‘The Last Stylebender’. Trailing on the scorecards heading into the fifth and final round, the Brazilian unleashed an unreal combination to get the stoppage victory. While Adesanya protested the stoppage, it was too late.

Barring a possible date with Khamzat Chimaev, Alex Pereira is once again expected to face Israel Adesanya next. Whenever the fight happens, expect coach Eugene Bareman to be confident, as he explained in an interview with Submission Radio.

There, the famed coach stated that he and Adesanya feel ready for the second clash. In Bareman’s view, they only need to change a few things before the rematch. The reason was that Adesanya was cleanly winning until the fifth-round stoppage.

“We’re quietly confident,” he said. “You gotta understand, we were winning that fight relatively comfortably. We felt we were taking the rounds. But not comfortable enough – when you’re fighting somebody like that, who’s gameplan appears to be, it’s not a guy who builds his gameplan around accumulation of damage.” (h/t MMA Mania)

“He’s a guy that builds his gameplan around mentally wearing down and trying to land one big shot. And he’s comfortable giving rounds and then not panicking, because he gives away rounds and it’s part of a bigger picture for him. Setting up what he ultimately is looking for. And with a few adjustments we can make some changes there and build on a lot of positive things that happened in that fight for us.”

What do you make of these comments? Who would you pick to win the rematch? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!