Middleweight contender Alex Pereira scored one of the most memorable finishes of UFC 276 against Sean Strickland. Following the win, ‘Poatan’ went right back to the Octagon side to watch champion Israel Adesanya defend his belt against Jared Cannonier, but was not pleased.
In an interview with Combate shortly after the event was over, the former Glory kickboxing two-division champion explained the reason why he did not enjoy Adesanya’s performance. However, Poatan – a man who’s already defeated Israel twice in kickboxing – believes that just makes him want to face the ‘Last Stylebender’ even more in his next outing.
“I was sitting right by the Octagon and, to be honest, I was not thrilled,” Pereira said. “I saw people leave during the fourth round, they were not thrilled. He’s going to have to look better next time. If he looks like that, it’s no good. He’s been watching my development. He knows I’m dangerous, he knows the risk he would be taking. He will have to look better, for sure. He’ll look better and I’ll make him get the fans thrilled. A packed arena. The people deserve to see a show and they didn’t get one today.
“Adesanya is surprised that I’m here today,” Pereira said. “There’s a video from about two years ago where he said I’d be in a bar telling my friends something like ‘Do you see that guy on the TV? The UFC champion. I’ve beaten him twice before’. He never believed I’d be here today and not so quickly. Now look at this. The world kept turning and I’m fighting him in my next fight.”
With the win over Strickland, Pereira (6-1) is now on a three-fight win streak in the Octagon, having defeated Bruno Silva and Andreas Michailidis before UFC 276. The 34-year-old’s sole professional MMA loss dates back to his debut, when he got submitted by Quemuel Ottoni, back in October 2015.
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