Daniel Cormier says Alex Pereira has to be defensively sound against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291.
Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will make his light heavyweight debut when he takes on Blachowicz (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) in the July 29 co-main event at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Pereira is coming off a brutal knockout loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 in April. In their fight prior, Pereira dethroned Adesanya to claim the middleweight title but was badly rocked at the end of Round 1. Considering the damage he’s taken in his past two outings, Cormier believes Pereira has to be very wary of Blachowicz’s power.
“We have seen Adesanya hurt Pereira in two fights,” Cormier said on “DC & RC.” “He can’t get hit by Jan Blachowicz. Blachowicz hits so hard, bro. I have seen Błachowicz almost decapitate guys: Luke Rockhold, Dominick Reyes. The way that he was knocking guys out for a while was very scary.”
Former light heavyweight champ Blachowicz’s “legendary Polish power” has shut the lights off fighters such as Corey Anderson, Rockhold and Reyes. Blachowicz failed to capture the vacant 205-pound belt at UFC 282 in December when he battled Magomed Ankalaev to a split draw but sees a win over former champ Pereira giving him another shot at gold.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
