that’s a good point and i think it holds up against anyone but pereira. he’s a pure kickboxer. i’d bet that izzys takedowns at this point are better than his tdd.
Pereira is very lean. I’m no weight cutting expert, but from what I understand is the more lean you are, the more water weight you can cut. Makes sense, as muscle holds more water than fat.
Alex is huge. I’ve seen a lot of his fights and in all of them he looks much bigger than his opponent. This confirms it.
Also, Izzy is the man for taking this fight. If he loses, obviously he will lose his belt. He will also lose a third time to the same guy, making his case for a rematch much tougher. The MMA community will just say Alex is the better fighter, period, regardless of his short tenure in MMA. If he wins a close fight, people will just say it wasn’t convincing enough, that it’s only one fight, and Alex is still better.
If he wrestles Alex and gets the win that way, people will criticize him saying Alex has “turned him into a wrestler”. The only way his wins this both in the eyes of the commission and MMA public is if he either brutally KO’s Alex, or completely dominates him standing up for five rounds.