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Heading into tonight's fight at UFC Vegas 9, Michel Pereira was involved in a controversial finish to his fight against Diego Sanchez from February when the Brazilian was disqualified for hitting Sanchez with an illegal knee while he was grounded. Despite that outcome, the Brazilian did have a few solid outings prior to that in the Octagon, regardless of every outcome particularly not going his way.
Pereira and Imadaev also developed quite the rivalry with one another after the latter shoved the Brazilian at the weigh-ins and made things a lot more intense, heading into tonight's fight.
Michel Pereira caps off a dominant win over Zelim Imadaev
Starting-off the fight, Michel Pereira had no sort of early tricks up his sleeves and seemed sharp early on in the fight. Pereira connected all his shots with perfect timing, hitting Imadaev with a big knee, as well. However, it wasn't too long until the Brazilian did the first flashy move of the fight, pulling the Showtime Kick off the cage. Closing out the round Michel Pereira put Imadaev down for a second and hit a spinning heel kick to the body.
As the second round began, it did seem that Michel Pereira had cut down on the flashy moves for this one but that is exactly when he pulled-off a rolling thunder kick. Imadaev walked his opponent down and attempted a big combo but couldn't execute it. Major props to Michel Pereira for his excellent defensive work.
The third round was more of the same, as Michel Pereira kept putting pressure on his opponent. The Brazilian fighter even intimidated Imadaev by slapping him multiple times and the finish to the fight came shortly after the former hit a belly-to-belly suplex and locked in the choke. Despite an unclear tap, referee Chris Tognoni brought an end to the bout.
In the aftermath of his win, a confident Michel Pereira proceeded to call out Jorge Masvidal and claimed that he wants the BMF Title.
