Daniel Cormier thinks UFC 287 will teach Alex Pereira that he needs to be more cautious with MMA gloves.
A decorated kickboxer, former two-division Glory Kickboxing champ Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) translated that success into MMA. His history with Israel Adesanya in kickboxing fast-tracked him to a title shot in the UFC, where he knocked out “The Last Stylebender” to become middleweight champion at UFC 281.
But this past Saturday in the UFC 287 headliner in Miami, Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) got his revenge with a knockout of his own to reclaim his belt from Pereira. “Poatan” started to hurt Adesanya with leg kicks and backed him up against the cage with a flurry in Round 2. But Adesanya timed his moment and blasted Pereira with a big counter right to knock him out.
“The success Pereira had early in the fight tells us he can compete with Izzy,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I don’t know if him winning that one fight warrants him getting an immediate rematch. I don’t know what the UFC wants to do. Izzy has fought the vast majority of the highest-ranked middleweights.
“So if he does get another shot, no one can complain. It’s going to be a rematch of some sort because Izzy was so dominant for so long. But I think Alex will grow from this. He will learn from this. He will learn that he cannot take the risk, when he has somebody hurt, as recklessly with four-ounce gloves.”
Cormier thinks Pereira got too excited when he had Adesanya against the fence, which caused him to let his guard down and get caught.
“The fight did not start great for (Adesanya),” Cormier said. “Pereira was having a lot of success with those outside leg kicks again. He seemed to have hurt Adesanya early in the fight and was doing really well. It was a mistake by Pereira that ultimately cost him.
“He hurts Adesanya with a leg kick, Adesanya’s leg buckles. (Adesanya) fades to the side of the octagon. Pereira starts to rush and force. Adesanya lands a beautiful counter right hand over the top and hurts Alex. Then a follow-up right hand not only knocks him out, it literally shut his lights out completely. It was exactly what ‘The Last Stylebender’ said he was going to do.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
