One of the scariest fighters in the UFC was once left admitting he feared an opponent.
From his intimidating walkout to his brutal power once the cage door shuts behind him, not many fighters have the kind of intimidating aura that Alex Pereira does.
Fans could see that once again this Saturday night, when Pereira challenges Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320. The pair’s rematch headlines the October 4 pay-per-view in Las Vegas, nearly seven months after the Dagestani emerged victorious from their first battle.
Pereira has been largely dismissive of Ankalaev and his threat, insisting that the current champ is far from being his toughest opponent. And the Russian also falls short when it comes to the scariest, judging by some of ‘Poatan’s’ past remarks…
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Alex Pereira was ‘scared’ of Sean Strickland when they shared the Octagon at UFC 276
Before finding title success at 205 pounds, Pereira rose to the top in the middleweight division. The result that netted him a shot at Israel Adesanya’s belt in late 2022 was a brutal knockout against a then-future champion.
After getting past Andreas Michailidis in devastating fashion on debut, Pereira was taken the full distance in the UFC for the first time by Bruno Silva. But he soon returned to his scary finishing ways in style, at the expense of Sean Strickland.
The controversial American was starched by some brutal hooks in round one of their UFC 276 fight. Interestingly, though, Pereira admitted he was the scared one as he stood across from Strickland inside the cage.
“Talking about my last fight, (Strickland) had 25 fights, was doing well in the UFC, ranked No. 4 in the middleweight rankings,” Pereira told So Papos MMA. “He’s dangerous, he’s experienced.
“I was scared, but when I heard him talk, I relaxed a little bit. He is a good fighter and an experienced one, but he was talking some stuff that didn’t make any sense. For a few months since the fight was booked I had fear, but it was under control.
“But I’ll tell you when I was the most afraid,” Pereira continued. “When he entered the Octagon and started staring at me, he hadn’t looked at me that way before. That was when I became scared. … He’s another person inside the Octagon, different from his normal personality.
“I thought, ‘This guy wants to kill me.’ I’m telling you, this was a different guy from everything else. But in the end it was good that he entered the octagon this way, because it woke me up, I became aware of the danger, I knew I couldn’t make mistakes.”
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Alex Pereira trained with Sean Strickland ahead of UFC 320
It did not take long for Pereira and Strickland to go from rivals to friends and training partners.
The pair formed a surprising bond after their showdown inside the Octagon, with the polarizing American appearing as part of a number of the Brazilian’s fight camps.
That was the case recently, as Strickland linked up with Pereira for UFC 320, aiding in ‘Poatan’s’ preparation for his shot at revenge against Ankalaev.
“Why is there a gym in Connecticut filled with violent Brazilians?!” Strickland wrote in the caption of a photo he posted on Instagram showing him with Pereira and former UFC light heavyweight champ Glover Teixeira.