Don’t book those parlays just yet…
Michel Pereira claims he’s not fighting Roman Dolidze in the UFC Louisville middleweight co-main event, despite previous reports that put “Demolidor” in the June 8 lineup for the promotion’s return to the KFC Yum! Center in Kentucky.
“I didn’t accept that fight,” Pereira said on Instagram. “That man, he trains with me every day. He trains with me at UFC PI, he trains at Xtreme Couture, got it? He accepted and I didn’t. For me, now is not the time to fight him. If he accepted, that’s his problem. I was even surprised when he accepted. I said if it was someone else, I’d take it.”
UFC CEO Dana White has repeatedly warned fighters that matchmakers will not book around their personal (or professional) relationships, leading to a debate about whether or not MMA is a team sport or every person for themselves.
“As it is with him, now is not the time to fight him yet,” Pereira continued. “For me, he was my friend, my training partner, for me in my head. But I saw then, that he’s not. Like me and him, since we train at the same gym, I’d have to look for another gym to train at. I’d have to organize myself to do a fight with him.”
Dolidze has yet to comment on Pereira’s refusal to fight.