Pereira thinks Hill needs to concentrate on his upcoming fight with Jiri Prochazka if he really wants that ‘Poatan’ smoke again.
Alex Pereira is giving his thoughts on the recent encounter with Jamahal Hill at the UFC Performance Institute that almost turned into a fight. And it seems like he’s not thinking about it, or Hill, too much at all.
Footage leaked from the P.I. showed Hill approach Pereira on the mats and say something to him. “Poatan” responded by throwing some gloves at Jamahal’s feet and challenging him to a fight right there, right then. After some verbal back-and-forths, Hill walked away.
“It happens,” Pereira told MMA Junkie at the 2024 Fighters Only MMA Awards, where he won Fighter of the Year. “It’s the first time with me, it’s the first time it’s happened. But I’m really focused on myself, not on what he’s doing. He’s interested in me, but I think he has to worry about his next fight with Jiri Prochazka. And who knows, maybe he’ll win? He’ll have a second chance to fight with me.”
As for his plans in 2025, Pereira admitted he was just going with the flow.
“I don’t have any plans,” he said. “What will happen, like from the beginning of the year until the end of the year, what I will achieve, I will do it the same way I did this year: I will take one step at a time, I will try to do my best, right?”
It seems like “Poatan” is a name on many fighters’ lips, including Jon Jones’.
“There are a lot of things that are happening, right?” he said of the callouts. “Everyone is seeing it, right? My name is really on the rise, so the crowd is talking a lot, so we have some options. I’m very happy about that too, but I plan to focus on my belt and making my defenses. That’s my focus.”
Pereira did say he expected fight Magomed Ankalaev next, but if he had other options he might choose another fighter because of Ankalaev’s bad attitude towards him.
Alex Pereira and Plinio Cruz celebrating winning Male Fighter and Coach Of The Year at the #WorldMMAAwards pic.twitter.com/rHGvmlaALH
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) December 6, 2024
“Oh, everything indicates that, right? But I don’t know,” he said. “It doesn’t just depend on me, right? He really wants it, but since I said that I would make things a little more difficult for him, if I could, I will do that. Everyone knows who I’ve faced, and that I’m not afraid to fight. But I’d like to make it a little harder for him, just because of the lies he told.”
Those hoping for a “Poatan” winter will be disappointed to hear he expects to return in the spring.
“Nothing’s been discussed yet, but I have some work to do,” he said. “So, everything indicates that the end of March, beginning of April, maybe.”
For now, he gets to enjoy his Fighter of the Year award and continue his adventures around the globe. Chama!