UFC welterweight contender Michel Pereira nearly found himself in a physical altercation with heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Pereira is fresh off his win over Santiago Ponzinibbio in the UFC Vegas 55 co-headliner. He earned the victory via a split decision and has now won five in a row over the likes of Niko Price and Andre Fialho.
During a recent interview with Canal Encarada, Pereira detailed what happened after his win over Ponzinibbio that led to a furious Ngannou.
“We celebrated my victory at the hotel, had fun,” Pereira said. “And we are such guys – we move only with music, we constantly light up, even when we cut weight. I always rock, and my guys are the same.
“Constantly moving noisily, having parties. Guerra was drinking there non-stop, everyone was joking, bantering. And our room was next door to Ngannou. And since the room was small, and there were a lot of people, someone suggested, ‘Let’s sit in the hallway?’ And we sat down in the corridor, and immediately came out to us – who would you think? Ngannou. The guys look at each other like that, ‘Wow, Ngannou is coming.’
“He comes up and says, ‘Hey, do you think it’s real to fall asleep when there’s such a noise? How do I sleep, huh?’ Honestly, at that moment I felt uncomfortable,” Pereira continued. “I was after a hard fight, my nose was broken, my legs were beaten off.
“If Ngannou started a fight, what would I do to him? The team is already all drunk, they wouldn’t have helped me in any way.” (h/t talkSPORT)
Pereira went on to clarify that Ngannou’s reasoning for the altercation wasn’t the problem, it was his tone.
“Honestly, Ngannou made me angry,” Pereira admitted. “Why couldn’t he address us politely? He was lucky that I was all beaten up and couldn’t do anything, especially for a guy of this size. I don’t even want to think about it. I know he’s a modest, nice guy, but why couldn’t he tell us politely, ‘Hey, guys, could you …’ I didn’t like the way he spoke to us. You need to be polite to people.”
“If he had addressed us politely, we would have retained respect for him forever. And so – we just fell silent. ‘What the f—k?! Do you think you can fall asleep with such noise?’ Bro, we were just drinking … You have to be polite to people. I could have answered him too, ‘Bro, go f—k. Who are you anyway?’”
Ngannou isn’t the only UFC fighter who Pereira has had quarrels with in recent days. He was in the middle of a controversy with welterweight Jorge Masvidal regarding a message that Masvidal sent to his wife on Instagram.
Ngannou is recovering from leg surgery but still remains arguably one of the most intimidating athletes on the planet. Pereira nearly found himself in a predicament, but it sounds like cooler heads prevailed.
What is your reaction to Michel Pereira’s story?
Continue Reading Michel Pereira Reveals Recent Altercation With Francis Ngannou At Hotel at MMA News.