Alex Pereira previews his upcoming fight against Jan Blachowicz at 205 lbs.
UFC 291 is scheduled for July 29, and Alex Pereira has commented on the news that he will be fighting Jan Blachowicz.
Dana White, president of the UFC, made an announcement last night about a slew of significant matches that will take place this summer.
The announcement that Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier will clash in the main event of UFC 291 for the vacant BMF title created the biggest splash. But we also learned that Alex Pereira will make his light heavyweight debut against former champion of the division, Jan Blachowicz.
UFC president Dana White had announced following Pereira’s lost against rival Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 that the Brazilian would be moving up in weight class. Pereira faces Blachowicz, who dropped the belt to ‘Poatan’s mentor Glover Teixeira, making him the oldest champion in UFC history.
Previewing the fight on his YouTube channel, Pereira stated:
“He is a dangerous guy, an experienced guy. A guy we know, because of my training partner Glover Teixeira. I’m sure, training hard and together with Glover, he will pass me a lot of stuff for sure like he is always doing. Everybody knows Blachowicz is a dangerous guy, an all-rounder, but I think it’s a good first fight for me. When I say my first fight, some people will think, oh, then it’s an easy opponent. No. All of you know my story. I was middleweight champ. So, for sure, they wanted to give me one of the top 5 ranked.”
Israel Adesanya effectively recaptured his UFC middleweight championship by knocking out Alex Pereira in the second round. Adesanya had the final laugh in the storied rivalry, but deep within, he’s indebted to Pereira for bringing out the best in him.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya took to Twitter to address his bitter rival Alex Pereira. ‘The Last Stylebender’ uploaded a video of himself and ‘Poatan’ hugging after their rematch at UFC 287, where they had just finished fighting.
Adesanya’s four-fight arc with the Brazilian-Tupi boxer was the turning point in his career. The New Zealander, who was born in Nigeria, had a rough start to his fighting career, losing twice by knockout in kickboxing and once in mixed martial arts, before making a spectacular return with a second-round knockout of Alex Pereira at UFC 287.
‘The Last Stylebender’ wrote on Twitter:
“”I love this game. Nothing compares, on this planet, in this life; [more] than putting it all on the line. [You only get] one shot, [with] the whole world watching, waiting – then BOOM! History. Our individual legends will always be intertwined because of the stories we’ve told with our beautiful violence. I’m grateful we have this rivalry, I’m grateful he beat me. It forced me to grow, made me better. Now, I have done the same for him – the gift that keeps on giving; A** whoopings. Shoutout to the warrior from Brazil, Alex “Poatan” Pereira!”
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