"Crazy how he destroyed his UFC career" - Fans react as Alex Pereira-slayer Quemuel Ottoni shares how "anxiety crisis" forced 11th-hour DWCS pullout

Quemuel Ottoni recently opened up about having to withdraw from his bout at Dana White's Contender Series 8 (DWCS) earlier this week. The Brazilian detailed going through anxiety struggles heading into the fight and being unable to gather his nerves in time to make the walk down to the octagon.

In 2015, Ottoni handed reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira his first MMA loss via third-round submission at Jungle Fight 82. Given Pereira's status among UFC fans today, Ottoni was riding a hype wave heading into his DWCS 8 fight against Kody Steele earlier this week in Las Vegas.

However, minutes before the Ottoni-Steele co-main event fight, it was announced that the Brazilian had withdrawn due to personal reasons. Dana White later shed light on Ottoni's situation and shared his reaction.

In a recent Instagram post, Ottoni opened up about being forced to withdraw and explained why he couldn't make it to the fight. He stated:

"I ended up not fighting yesterday after really having an anxiety crisis, adrenaline, freezing a bit after seeing all that. Watching it from the other side of the screen is one thing, but being there and seeing the cameras, cars, and even people... There’s no excuse for what happened. I made weight."

Ottoni continued:

"It was a struggle to gain back the weight, I felt sick on the way back [up in weight], but even that isn’t an excuse. I gained 8 kg. [17.6 pounds] with severe stomach pain, but that’s not why I didn’t fight. It was a mix of everything, the anxiety, seeing the camera, seeing the cutman doing my hands, people I’ve seen the most, and that’s it." [H/t: MMA Fighting]

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Fans react to Quemuel Ottoni explaining DWCS 8 withdrawal

Soon after Quemuel Ottoni explained his withdrawal from his DWCS 8 fight against Kody Steele in an Instagram video, @MMAFighting posted his quotes translated from Portuguese on X. Fans flocked to the post's comments section to express their thoughts on the matter.

One fan joked about Ottoni being afraid of the UFC Apex facility and wrote:

"Dude beat Pereira but the Apex was that scary. Goes to show you how scary that warehouse is."

One user wrote:

"It’s crazy how he destroyed his UFC career without ever fighting in the UFC."

Another user wrote:

"He ain't made for it. It is what it is."

Check out some more reactions below:

Fan reactions [Images courtesy: @MMAFighting on X]