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UFC 276 marked the breakthrough performance of Alex Pereira's MMA career so far when he knocked out then-No.4-ranked middleweight fighter Sean Strickland. The performance also guaranteed that 'Poatan' will be the next fighter to try and dethrone reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Going into the fight at UFC 276, fans and MMA pundits alike viewed the fight against the American to be the biggest test of the former two-division kickboxing champion's career. However, Strickland chose to keep the fight in the Brazilian's desired terrain and succumbed to a devastating knockout loss.
Recalling details from the fight on the Nem Me Viu podcast, Pereira said that he could've been in trouble if Strickland's gameplan had worked:
"Now in my last fight, I learned a lot, right? About this issue you are talking about. I started hitting a little harder. It doesn't look like it, know? But I was hitting harder. And I even think I was hitting harder than the guy. And I saw that he was very controlling. He wanted to expose himself so that I would hit him all the time. And if I keep hitting hard all the time... It's three rounds, maybe he'd try to grab me and I'd get tired you know?"
He added:
"Let's put it this way, I'm technically better than he is, but without gas, I'd be nobody. So if he tired me and his strategy worked, I'd be in trouble.''
Alex Pereira is all set to face Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2022. While Adesanya aims to seek vengeance for his two losses in kickboxing to 'Poatan', the Brazilian is focused on becoming the middleweight champion of the UFC.
Alex Pereira is confident that he will inflict damage when he meets Israel Adesanya at UFC 281
Israel Adesanya will face old kickboxing rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in Madison Square Garden with retribution on his mind.
The two fighters have a history dating back to their days as Glory kickboxers, where Pereira defeated Adesanya with a left hook knockout, making him the only fighter to have ever knocked out 'The Last Stylebender'.
Adesanya reigns supreme at the top of the middleweight division with five successful title defenses. The Brazilian believes that he has the tools to defeat 'The Last Stylebender' again:
“I can tell you that it will be impossible for him not to engage, if he’s within my reach I will hurt him. And five rounds… He won’t make it, five rounds? And I come close, you can see in the fights that I come close, I have a very good defense. He will want to attack or counterattack, but I can hurt him with my defense too.”
Check out the interview with Brazilian MMA below:
