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Alex Pereira clearly did not appreciate the recent comments coming from a long time ranked light heavyweight. The usually stoic former UFC middleweight champion uncharacteristically showed a bit of emotion as he fired back with some pretty harsh words directed at Anthony Smith.
In a video reacting to Smith’s razor thin split decision win at UFC Singapore, Pereira called it “controversial” and thought it should’ve been a draw instead. For what it’s worth, 9 of 14 media members compiled by MMA Decisions scored it for Ryan Spann.
He then went on to respond to Smith’s comments.
Alex Pereira says Smith is “bitter” that he “never amounted to anything”
“Since he’s a commentator, I always see him talking, especially about me. He talks really bad. I don’t know what he has against me,” Pereira said. “Today he relishes bashing fighters.
“No one talks about him, so he spouts off nonsense to get some screen time,” he continued. “He has to keep criticizing fighters, maligning them just for a bit of recognition and to make himself look better.”
Pereira went on to say he thinks Smith actions are one of a “bitter man.”
“The only ones who speak bad about me are Anthony Smith types, washed up vets who never amounted to anything. Who are still fighting. They’re in a really tight spot. Or the guy who is still a nobody. But those who are already doing well, I don’t see them talking about me,” he said. “It’s just the ones beneath me. You get me? Or those who tried and failed, bitter souls like Anthony Smith.
“I don’t really like doing this. Coming here just to bad-mouth people. (But) actually, I’m not bad-mouthing anyone, I’m just speaking the truth.”
What did Anthony Smith say about Alex Pereira?
Smith’s most recent comments about Alex Pereira was him saying that the former UFC middleweight champion is just a “normal dude” at 205 lbs.
“I thought that Alex looked pretty good and to be fair, I thought Jan looked pretty good as well,” Smith said prior to his UFC Singapore bout. “He was able to do a lot of things that Jan Blachowicz typically does to be successful. I think that Alex had a little bit of an eye-opening moment at 205 though. He’s not the large, scary monster that he was at middleweight. He’s a fairly normal dude.
“In terms of just his size and power, he doesn’t stand out amongst all the 205’ers and I don’t think that Alex Pereira is more powerful and explosive than an Aleksandar Rakic. He’s not stronger than a guy like Ankalaev. These dudes are big, powerful, hard-hitting dudes. Every single one of them. Because he’s such a good striker, he’s still gonna be special, but it’s not gonna be just his power and his strength that’s gonna push him over the top anymore.”
Prior to Pereira’s light heavyweight debut win, Smith also said similar comments on how “(Pereira is) just another dude” and that “he’s gonna have problems at 205” without having a size advantage anymore.
It’s also worth pointing out that on both occasions, Smith only gave his opinions after being asked specific questions the media had about Alex Pereira’s move to light heavyweight. He also complimented Pereira’s improvements on the ground from training with Glover Teixeira.
After his decision win over Jan Blachowicz, Alex Pereira is likely next in line for a shot at the recently vacated (again) UFC light heavyweight title.
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