MMA legends Daniel Cormier, Ray Longo, Kenny Florian, and Jon Anik debate one of the most controversial moments of UFC 301 – Michel Pereira’s backflip.
As the dust settles on UFC 301, two controversies are being hotly debated in the MMA space – Jack Shore’s fight being called off for a ‘bizarre’ injury, and the potential disqualification of Michel Pereira for his backflipping antics.
Michel Pereira almost cost himself DQ loss with a backflip
Fan favorite Brazilian middleweight Michel Pereira almost got himself disqualified in his main card fight against Ihor Potieria at UFC 301, after inadvertently kneeing the grounded opponent in the head as he backflipped over Poteiria’s guard.
Whilst Pereira was able to latch up a deep guillotine choke only seconds later, the eighth submission win of his career, there was cageside confusion as the commission appeared to argue about whether the backflip knee, inadvertent or otherwise, was an illegal (and potentially DQ-worthy) strike.
Luckily, UFC fans have the expertise of several MMA legends on hand; so how do commentators, trainers, and former world champion fighters view the Pereira backflip?
UFC legends debate Pereira’s backflip almost ending in a DQ
Given that the backflip did result in shin-on-head contact, albeit relatively minimal as the knee mostly landed on the shoulder/neck area, there was a debate within the MMA community as to whether Pereira should have been disqualified, or if the result should have been overturned to a No Contest.
First up to the plate to offer his expert view on the controversy was Daniel Cormier, who revealed the reaction of Michel Pereira’s corner when they were told that the backflip could end in a DQ loss:
“When I told him and his coaches, you should have seen the energy just drain from those guys, it looked like those men were going to cry because they thought that great performance and that choke was going to get overturned to a No Contest.”
“His heart just sunk [but] when I told the coaches that he won – just pure joy and jubilation. It was crazy.”
“He’s a wild man and that’s what makes him fun, but in that moment, I hope he realizes that in some of those actions can be very dangerous,” advised the former double champion.
Daniel Cormier’s commentary booth partner Jon Anik shared his own reaction to the controversy on the latest episode of the Anik and Florian Podcast, in which he noted that this isn’t the first time that Pereira has risked a DQ in order to keep fans entertained:
“It’s certainly not the first time he’s done that in the octagon, I was sort of thinking about it as I was prepping the fight because he’s come close to landing illegally before.”
“Inadvertent or accidental; I don’t think they would DQ him or take a point away, but you got to be careful with your weapons,” said the fan-favorite commentator.
“I thought it was borderline fine, the review official said it was legal and now we move on, but you got to be careful.”
Podcast co-host and UFC legend Kenny Florian even went as far as to claim that Pereira’s agility and showmanship was a weapon in itself: “My goodness, his athleticism dude, it’s a cheat code.”
“It shows that this is a guy, it goes beyond winning – he wants to show his skills, like he’s there to entertain which I can appreciate because it takes some big balls, it’s one thing to do it in training but to do it live in a fight when it matters, and to pull it off.”
Finally, veteran coach Ray Longo added his take on the matter and laughed as he shared: “If I see a guy do a backflip to pass the guard within the next month, I’m going to kill myself.”
“When that guy was on his back, he’s thinking ‘I got to get this off as quick as possible in his head,’” said Longo, before explaining why the backflip wouldn’t have resulted in a DQ, even if the shin of Pereira had landed clean on the head of his UFC 301 opponent:
“The guy’s having fun in there – as far as the legality of that, it would definitely be accidental for sure because you don’t know where the f*** you’re landing so it’s not like he did anything on purpose.”
“Normally I don’t like the showboating guys but this guy, he’s having so much fun and it’s just part of his game,” he argued, adding that “there’s something pleasurable about it” from a fan’s perspective, seeing a fighter take such risks with the goal of entertaining the audience.
With the victory at UFC 301, Michel Pereira moves to 31-11 as a professional.