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Michel Pereira secured an impressive win at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Vieira against fellow welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio. After a hard-fought three rounds, the Brazilian emerged victorious via split decision, with the judges' scorecards reading 28-29, 30-27, and 29-28. The fight won 'Fight of the Night' honors.
Following the contest, Pereira called out two of the welterweight division's biggest stars, Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. In his post-fight octagon interview, Pereira said:
"Now I need [someone from the] top 15, top 10... Hey Nate, I'm ready! Hey Jorge Masvidal, come my friend!"
Watch Pereira's octagon interview below:
During the media scrum after the event, Pereira revealed a surprising and hilarious reason for wanting to fight 'Gamebred'. According to the Brazilian, Masvidal sent Pereira's wife a "prayer" emoji but didn't send one to him. 'Demolidor' wants to understand the meaning of this via an octagon outing against one of the company's biggest stars.
There has been no response from Jorge Masvidal about this so far. It will be interesting to see what he has to say, if anything, because this could well be the first time a fighter wants to fight his peer over an emoji.
Watch Michel Pereira address the media below:
Michel Pereira reportedly cut over 40lbs to make welterweight limit
Soon after UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Vieira ended, ESPN MMA journalist Brett Okamoto reported that Pereira seemed massive inside the octagon. He asked the Brazilian about it, to which 'Demolidor' apparently replied that he weighed 211 pounds at the start of his camp and cut 41 pounds over four weeks to make the welterweight limit for his fight.
If this is true, it is remarkable that Pereira was able to cut such a drastic amount of weight over such a short period of time and still perform the way he did. However, it's not unheard of. Many UFC fighters have admitted to being over 30 pounds heavier than their divisional limit when not in fight camp.
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping believes it's time for fighters to stop the practice of cutting weight and fight at their natural weight class, which would be much healthier, per 'The Count'.
