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Chael Sonnen has responded to detractors who've suggested that Alex Pereira (7-1 MMA) is the worst UFC middleweight (185-pound) champion ever.
Pereira's critics believe that the striking savant lacks the wrestling and overall grappling skills to compete at MMA's highest levels.
The Brazilian combat sports veteran previously held the Glory middleweight and light heavyweight titles in the sport of kickboxing. Moreover, he's defeated fellow striking wizard Israel Adesanya twice in kickboxing and once in MMA.
Alex Pereira's most recent fight witnessed him beat Israel Adesanya (23-2 MMA) via fifth-round TKO to become the new UFC middleweight champion. Many have hailed Pereira as one of the deadliest strikers in MMA. Regardless, his critics believe that the UFC middleweight division's elite wrestlers and grappling specialists in general would dominantly out-grapple and defeat him.
In an edition of Beyond the Fight, Chael Sonnen sounded off on those who've lambasted Alex Pereira on MMA forums. He explained that a fighter might take 'Poatan' down once and hold him there.
However, if they can't finish him on the mat, the fight will resume on their feet at the beginning of the ensuing round of their five-round MMA bout. Furthermore, he alluded to the hulking Pereira being huge for his division and having impressively beaten three UFC fighters prior to facing Adesanya:
"You've got to be able to take him down and/or keep him there five times in one evening after cutting 53 pounds, having all of the pressures, having the baddest dude in the world standing across from you, with the entire world watching."
He continued:
"And before you ever got there, you took three guys signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship [UFC], and you beat them. I mean, there really is a lot that goes into this before your lying eyes tell you that a guy has a deficit in a specific area [grappling], right?"
Watch Sonnen discuss the topic at 5:30 in the video below:
Alex Pereira honored with BJJ brown belt by coach Plinio Cruz after UFC 281 win
Alex Pereira spectacularly stopped Israel Adesanya in a fight for the ages at UFC 281 on November 12th. 'Poatan' is currently 3-0 against Adesanya in kickboxing and MMA combined. The consensus is that Pereira's first UFC title defense could be against none other than 'Izzy' in early 2023.
The Pereira-Adesanya UFC 281 matchup was primarily a striking contest with a sprinkling of grappling exchanges. That said, Pereira's coach Plinio Cruz was pleased with his pupil's performance and subsequently handed 'Poatan' his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt. Ariel Helwani reported the same on Twitter and wrote:
"New UFC middleweight champ Alex Pereira was awarded his BJJ brown belt by his coach Plinio Cruz last night"
