Wellington Turman believes his training partner Alex Pereira will have a trial by fire in his next outing.
Former two-division Glory champion and current UFC middleweight Alex Pereira will have his hands full against a heavy-handed prospect in his next match: Bruno Silva. However, one of the kickboxing star’s training partners believes this fight will be more than just a tough outing for ‘Poatan’.
Fellow UFC fighter Wellington Turman, who has fought and lost via knockout to Silva last year, thinks the match will prove if Pereira is ready for the top of the division. In an interview with Super Lutas’ YouTube Channel the Brazilian talked about how well-rounded and intelligent Alex has become as an MMA fighter.
“People say ‘Poatan’ only knows striking, they’re very mistaken,” Turman said. “He’s doing really well, especially defensively. That really frustrates guys who go for takedowns. You’re making this big effort and he just gets back up. Poatan is really good. He’s very smart. He knows when to strike. It’s really hard to finish him. He’s ready for everything.”
“Poatan is really relaxed,” Turman added. “He wants to evolve, train, take it slow. If he beats Bruno, a guy who’s on a three-fight win streak, I think that’ll put his name up there and he’ll go straight to the lions. He’s going to give them a hard time and he’ll get Adesanya.”
In his last outing, Pereira (4-1) scored a highlight-reel flying knee KO against Andreas Michailidis, at UFC 268 last November.
Now, Pereira is scheduled to take on Silva at UFC Fight Night 203, at the UFC Apex, in Las Vegas. The card is expected to happen on March 12 and to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between contenders Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev.