UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier believes Alex Pereira’s new weight class could help him with an important aspect of his game.
Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will make his light heavyweight debut against former champion Jan Blachowicz (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 291 co-main event at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
Blachowicz handed UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya his first and still only loss when he nullified his kickboxing and took him down three times en route to a unanimous decision win at UFC 259 in 2021. Cormier expects Blachowicz to employ a similar strategy against Pereira, except he thinks “Poatan” will be a lot heavier in the octagon than what Adesanya was.
“When Israel Adesanya fought against Jan Blachowicz, because we all look for common factors and common denominators, Izzy got taken down by Jan, and that’s why he lost the fight,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “DC & RC.” “Izzy weighed 197 pounds when he walked into the octagon to fight Jan Blachowicz. Pereira will be big. He will be heavy. I bet he weighs about 220 when he goes into the octagon, so you would imagine that extra size will help him with the takedown defense.”
But Cormier said Pereira will also be dealing with more size than he’s accustomed to, which could be challenging for him.
“With Jan Blachowicz, you know that he possesses knockout power, and he also possesses the ability to take you down and grind you out,” Cormier continued. “He’s so heavy from the top that he can really wear on Alex Pereira. For as much as Pereira has done in a short period of time, he’s not had to deal with a bigger, stronger grappler. Am I saying he’s not ready to do that? No.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
