Fans unearth old video of Alex Pereira failing to defend low leg kicks in kickboxing

There is a lot of excitement for UFC 281 as Alex Pereira will look to have a combat sports three-peat as he challenges former kickboxing foe Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight championship. He has essentially been fast-tracked to a main event title shot largely in-part due to his history with the champion.

Since Pereira won both kickboxing fights against Adesanya, fans are learning more about the Brazilian’s kickboxing past to get a better idea of how he competes against other elite strikers. Reddit user rjtsaigal brought up an interesting observation on ‘Poatan’s skillset when it comes to defending leg kicks with video evidence from a past fight in Glory Kickboxing:

“Alex Pereira being surprisingly bad at defending low kicks.”

Another Reddit user, onediepe defended 'Poatan's low kick defense and stated that it had more to do with who his opponent was. He wrote:

"Vakhitov is one of the best LHW's Glory has had, just always been riddled with injuries to his right hand. His low kicks are spectacular and his Dutch style kickboxing is second to none. I wouldn't say Pereira is necessarily bad at defending low kicks as much as Vakhitov is extremely good at throwing them. The leg kicks never hindered Pereira against other good leg kickers such as Wilnis, etc."

Celticraider24 brought up that one strength Alex Pereira does have is his left-hook, which was on display when he knocked 'Izzy' out in kickboxing and when he knocked Sean Strickland out at UFC 276.

However, Reddit user LehenLong mentioned that the same could be said for Adesanya as it pertains to low kicks:

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Will Alex Pereira defeat Israel Adesanya for a third time?

Alex Pereira currently has the bragging rights over Israel Adesanya, but he will have an opportunity to leave no doubt on who the better fighter is if he defeats him in MMA and becomes the new UFC middleweight champion.

"Poatan's ascent to earning a main event title opportunity is very unique and arguably just as impressive as former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar's rise. He only has 7 MMA fights and is receiving a title shot in his fourth UFC bout.