Alex Pereira has taken yet another jibe at Khamzat Chimaev amid their ongoing feud. Being a member of the Pataxó tribe of Brazil’s indigenous peoples, Pereira put forth an Instagram video of himself defending takedowns in an indigenous wrestling session.
Addressing the wrestling session, Alex Pereira trolled Khamzat Chimaev by suggesting that 'Borz' would similarly fail to take him down inside the octagon. Pereira wrote:
"Chimaev trying to take me down."
Not one to be outdone, Khamzat Chimaev hit back at the kickboxing veteran. by questioning the level of Pereira's grappling skills:
"This is your level."
Check out Pereira and Chimaev's jibes and the wrestling footage in the video below:
Former two-division Glory kickboxing champion Alex Pereira made a complete transition to MMA and debuted in the UFC last year. Pereira swiftly earned a title shot. Furthermore, he defeated longtime rival and fellow kickboxing veteran Israel Adesanya via fifth-round TKO at UFC 281 on November 12, 2022.
The win over Adesanya earned Pereira the coveted UFC middleweight title. Following 'Poatan's' victory, Khamzat Chimaev immediately called for a title fight against the newly-crowned champion at UFC 282 on December 10.
Chimaev is widely-revered for his extraordinary wrestling abilities. Besides, the undefeated Chechnya-born Swedish MMA fighter has competed at both welterweight and middleweight in the UFC.
Pereira responded to Chimaev's call-out by indicating that he needs time to heal from his grueling matchup against Adesanya and also won't be able to cut to middleweight by December 10. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Pereira explained that he was willing to face Chimaev at UFC 283 on January 21, 2023, in a light heavyweight bout. Pereira highlighted that Chimaev was offered the fight but turned it down.
Daniel Cormier views Khamzat Chimaev as a bad matchup for Alex Pereira
Presently, the consensus is that middleweight kingpin Alex Pereira will defend his title in an immediate rematch against Israel Adesanya. Meanwhile, it's believed that the UFC's looking to book Khamzat Chimaev against Colby Covington in a potential No.1 contender's fight at welterweight.
Regardless, MMA legend Daniel Cormier recently discussed a potential Pereira-Chimaev showdown and picked 'Borz' to win. 'DC' insinuated that Pereira is a prolific striker and matches up well with fellow striker Adesanya but lacks grappling skills.
The former two-division UFC champion added that a wrestling wizard like Chimaev would be a terrible stylistic matchup for Pereira. On ESPN MMA's DC & RC show, Cormier stated:
"If you schedule him and Khamzat right now... Khamzat would be a massive favorite to beat Alex Pereira. Just because of the style. The style just does not match up yet and Pereira, he’s so young in his career."
Watch Cormier's assessment below:
