Although it wasn’t nearly as shocking as his UFC debut, Alex Pereira still sounds very satisfied with his second victory inside the Octagon. After going three rounds against a game Bruno Silva, ‘Poatan’ picked up a unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 50, keeping him right on track for big plans in the future.
In an interview with Combate, the former two-division Glory champion said he expected the fight against Silva to be a tough one. Since his opponent was also a dangerous striker, Pereira knew he had to be careful not to get caught. However, being able to show some of his grappling is what made Alex the most happy with his performance.
“It was a war. I said it before, he’s a tough guy. He has shown it before, he was coming off three knockout wins. I had that in mind so I wouldn’t get frustrated. I never said I was going to knock him out. I had some good moments, but there were some moments when I’d stop, feel like it wasn’t the right time and he would recover.”
“I’m an experienced guy.” Pereira said. “Especially on the feet. But I’ve been able to showcase some of my grappling and my takedown defense, too. At one point he tried to take me down and I got him in a guillotine, but I was at an angle that wasn’t that good. Had he been on my right side, I would’ve been able to pull him and I’m almost sure I would’ve gotten him. I’ve been training right, I’ve dedicating myself and this is the outcome.”
Now with another victory under his belt, Pereira has set his sights on a high-ranked opponent for his next outing: Jared Cannonier. Since the obvious long term goal for the Brazilian is a rematch with champion Israel Adesanya, Pereira believes a win over the ‘Killa Gorilla’ could put him very close to that goal.
“If people are saying I should fight Adesanya, why not Jared Cannonier? I have nothing against him, but he’s highly ranked, too. He’s close to the belt. I think it would be a good fight.”
Pereira (5-1) entered his bout at UFC Vegas 50 off a flying knee knockout win over Andreas Michailidis, back in November 2021. The 34-year-old’s last MMA loss came in his mixed martial arts debut, when he was submitted by Quemuel Ottoni, all the way back in October 2015.
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