Alex Pereira has made a meteoric rise to the top of the UFC. There has always been a lot of hype around the Brazilian fighter. He made the transition to MMA from an incredible kickboxing career. Of course, due to his rise to the top, he has garnered some criticism from fighters and fans alike. Especially from fellow light heavyweight Anthony Smith. Who recently commented on Pereira at 205. However, the former middleweight champion fired back.
The Stoic Alex Pereira
As previously stated, Pereira is a former middleweight champion. He has a professional record of 8-2 with six knockouts. Usually, you wouldn’t only see someone with a record like that fighting for a title. Yet, due to his rivalry with Israel Adesanya, he was fast-tracked to a title shot and beat his long-time rival for the belt. Pereira’s fun to watch in the octagon because of his immense striking skills.
Furthermore, the fact that he can finish the fight incredibly quickly means you want to avoid blinking when he fights. After losing to Adesanya, Pereira decided to move up to light-heavyweight. The 36-year-old beat former champion Jan Błachowicz. The victory seems to have put him in a fight for the vacant title.
Smith On Pereira
Smith is an incredibly well-respected fighter with over 40 professional fights. He has unsuccessfully challenged for the light-heavyweight belt against Jon Jones. Smith is known for his sensational toughness and lives up to his nickname ‘Lionheart’. He’s coming off a win against Ryan Spam. Before the fight in Singapore, Smith had this to say about Pereira.
“I think that Alex had an eye-opening moment at 205, though. He’s not the large, scary monster that he was at middleweight. He’s a fairly normal dude. These dudes are big, powerful, hard-hitting dudes. Every single one of them. Because he’s such a good striker, he’s still going to be special, but it’s not going to be just his power and strength that will push him over the top anymore.”
Pereira’s Response
Pereira had harsh words responding to what Smith said about him at 205 via his YouTube channel.
“The only ones who speak badly about me are Anthony Smith types, washed-up vets who never amounted to anything. Who is still fighting? They’re in a tight spot. Or the guy who is still a nobody. But those who are already doing well, I don’t see them talking about me.”
They are both great fighters and because they are both high in the light- heavyweight division, we could see a future fight between them.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
