Alex Pereira prefers obvious risk over Sean Strickland reasonably than knockout: ‘I behold many openings in his recreation’

There’s absolute self belief Alex Pereira can leave any man unconscious on the canvas in an MMA fight. At UFC 276, on the different hand, he desires to set aside a determined construct of assertion.

Residing to reach in a possible No. 1 contender bout against Sean Strickland on July 2 — the same night Pereira’s renowned rival, Israel Adesanya, is anticipated to defend his UFC middleweight title against Jared Cannonier — “Poatan” is out to dominate.

“In fact, I’m no longer all for a knockout,” Pereira acknowledged on this week’s episode of MMA Combating podcast Trocação Franca. “If it’s a fight [that ends] by risk, a success clearly, I’d gain it. I want feel [the fight], you know? Honest appropriate care for the [Bruno Santos] fight — three rounds, a battle, him attempting to gain me down and myself defending it. If I rep taken down, I’m getting back up and maybe taking him down as successfully.”

Pereira is a ancient two-division champion in GLORY who walked far from kickboxing to level of curiosity plump-time on his MMA profession in 2021. After going 2-0 in his first two UFC bouts, at the side of a spectacular flying-knee knockout of Andreas Michailidis in his octagon debut, Pereira could per chance develop a shot on the title with a gain at UFC 276. That holds even extra lawful if Adesanya emerges victorious against Cannonier, as Pereira has defeated “The Closing Stylebender” twice in kickboxing and the 2 continue to maintain a fiery rivalry.

Strickland, on the different hand, is gunning for his chance at UFC gold after a success six straight bouts, most unbiased nowadays in a five-round risk over Jack Hermansson.

“He’s a unhealthy guy, very intriguing,” Pereira acknowledged of Strickland. “But, with my fighting style, I cling it’s a immense fight for me. He comes forward engrossing to determine, you know? He desires to gain. That motivates me a lot. I cling my system could per chance be higher than his.”

Pereira is simplest a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and believes Strickland will “relate” on drawing near the fight with takedowns in solutions. The typical kickboxing necessary individual acknowledged he could per chance furthermore showcase his cling grappling acumen, but simplest when it’s no longer lawful a “wreck of energy.”

“I behold many openings in his recreation. There are such a entire lot of things I will kind there,” Pereira acknowledged of Strickland, who hasn’t misplaced since a first-round knockout to welterweight Elizeu Zaleski in 2018. “Even that fight he misplaced to the Brazilian with a spinning kick, he’s getting alternative abilities since. Possibly it wasn’t lawful that he moved up in weight, I cling he’s evolving. Six fights [since then] is a lot, you know?”

In a outdated interview with Trocação Franca, Pereira acknowledged Adesanya used to be “terrorized s” of facing him in MMA and predicted the champ would lunge from him.

Three months later, Pereira is ready for his shot.

“I don’t know what is going to occur [after UFC 276],” Pereira acknowledged. “Other folks had been soliciting for the Adesanya fight and the title fight ever since I signed [with the UFC]. I came in announcing I needed to fight for the belt against whoever held it, and he’s there. I don’t know the procedure it’s going to be, but I’ll be ready for one, two, three, how many extra fights the organization desires me to gain. But we can behold it’s being a temporary direction of. I’m ready [now].”

Will Adesanya leave the T-Cell Enviornment in Las Vegas because the reining 185-pound king, even supposing?

Pereira believes it’ll be intriguing for any middleweight rather than him to beat the UFC champion within the imply time, and he broke down precisely how he thinks Adesanya will defeat Cannonier.

“What’s going to set aside the variation on this fight is the kick to the thigh,” Pereira acknowledged. “[People will say,] ‘But Alex, he acquired by head kick KO or a knee.’ But discover on the procedure it started, how [Cannonier] is acting after these kicks. It’s no longer easy to trouble somebody with the hands. You KO other folks with the hands, you know? The kick is meant to trouble.

“What’s Adesanya is going to kind [against me]? Kick me? I’ll defend it. The protection I kind, it hurts other folks as successfully. He does that successfully, he hurts other folks. I acquired’t mention names here, but you could per chance per chance behold other folks he’s fought. [And people] will by no procedure discuss this kick [to the thigh].”