Known for his flashy strikes in the Octagon, welterweight Michel Pereira was surprised by his opponent at UFC 270. Paired up against Andre Fialho in a bout he won via unanimous decision, the Brazilian was surprised when his opponent started out so strong in the match.
Furthermore, Pereira did not expect to lose a round to Fialho, which was the awakening he needed to take the fight more seriously. In an interview with Super Lutas’ YouTube Channel. Michel explained his thoughts and feelings during the first round and what made him turn things around to earn the nod from the judges.
“In the first round, I was just testing the waters and he really surprised me. I was really surprised,” Pereira said. “The idea was to just study him and it really flustered me. I trained a lot and it really hard and that really made me change for the second round. But he really surprised me in the first.”
“I always tell my guys to tell me truth,” Pereira added. “At the end of the first round, they told me I had lost the round. The thing is that all I had to do was impose my pace and that’s what I was willing to do.”
The win over Fialho put Pereira (27-11-2 NC) on a four-fight winning streak, with victories over Zelim Imadaev, Khaos Williams and Niko Price, alongside the one at UFC 270. The 28-year-old’s last loss happened in February 2020, when lost to Diego Sanchez via disqualification due to an illegal knee.
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