Tag: alex pereira

Teixeira: Israel Adesanya Is No Match For His “Daddy” Alex Pereira

Glover Teixeira believes Israel Adesanya is “sh*t-scared” of his fellow Brazilian and newly signed UFC prospect, Alex Pereira. Pereira, a former two-division GLORY kickboxing champion, will make his promotional debut against Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268 on November 6. The 34-year-old is 3-1 in his MMA career, with his most recent victory ending in a […]

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Glover Teixeira believes Israel Adesanya is “sh*t-scared” of his fellow Brazilian and newly signed UFC prospect, Alex Pereira.

Pereira, a former two-division GLORY kickboxing champion, will make his promotional debut against Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268 on November 6. The 34-year-old is 3-1 in his MMA career, with his most recent victory ending in a scary first-round KO of Thomas Powell in November last year. 

Pereira will bring to the UFC stellar credentials as a kickboxer. But perhaps his most marketable asset will be his status as the only man to KO Israel Adesanya, way back in 2017. That left-hook blow was the last action of “Stylebender’s” illustrious 75-5 kickboxing career before he entered the UFC in 2018. 

The widely-shared footage of Israel lying flat on the canvas almost seems unbelievable given his dominance atop the UFC middleweight division. And it wasn’t the first time Pereira had defeated Adesanya, either. A year prior, the Brazilian did so via unanimous decision, and now in the UFC, he’s gunning for a trifecta against the middleweight champ.

Alex Pereira
Image Credit: Joao Alves/Facebook

Teixeira Says Adesanya Is “Praying” Not To Face Alex Pereira

One man who knows Pereira well is long-time training partner Glover Teixeira. Speaking to MMA Fighting, the #1 ranked UFC light heavyweight said he believes Adesanya will be “praying” to avoid his compatriot. 

“Daddy’s in the UFC,” said Teixeira. “Adesanya doesn’t wanna talk about it, ‘This guy is just getting here,’ but he knows it’s a tough one for him. No one gives Adesanya more trouble at 185 than him. I’m not saying he’s going to win, it’s another fight, another time, another style, but Adesanya must be praying, ‘For the love of God, put someone like Phil Davis for this guy.’”

While Teixeira gives credit to Adesanya’s UFC accomplishments, he believes Pereira’s KO power will be too much to handle in four-ounce gloves.

“Adesanya is no match for him,” continued Teixeira. “First of all, he’ll be coming in sh*t-scared. [Pereira] knocked him out with 10-ounce gloves. With four-ounce gloves on his hand now … and Adesanya doesn’t have the knockout power Poatan has. He’s f*cking good, don’t get me wrong, Adesanya is awesome, but he doesn’t hit like him. Adesanya hits like a normal guy, Poatan is not normal.”

What do you think? Is Alex Pereira a threat to Israel Adesanya’s middleweight dominance?

Continue Reading Teixeira: Israel Adesanya Is No Match For His “Daddy” Alex Pereira at MMA News.

Glover Teixeira: Israel Adesanya Is ‘Sh*t Scared’ Of Alex Pereira

Glover TeixeiraGlover Teixeira believes Israel Adesanya is quaking in his boots now that Alex Pereira is officially a UFC fighter. The kickboxing phenom (3-1 MMA) is set to make his promotional debut when he takes on Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268. Pereira is best known in MMA circles for picking up two wins over ‘Stylebender’ in […]

Glover Teixeira

Glover Teixeira believes Israel Adesanya is quaking in his boots now that Alex Pereira is officially a UFC fighter.

The kickboxing phenom (3-1 MMA) is set to make his promotional debut when he takes on Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268.

Pereira is best known in MMA circles for picking up two wins over ‘Stylebender’ in Glory. The Brazilian first beat Adesanya by decision in 2016 before knocking him out cold in their 2017 rematch.

During a recent appearance on MMA Fighting’s Portuguese-language podcast Trocação Franca, Teixeira said he believes Adesanya fears a third fight with his training partner.

“Daddy’s in the UFC,” Teixeira said. “Adesanya doesn’t wanna talk about it, ‘This guy is just getting here,’ but he knows it’s a tough one for him. No one gives Adesanya more trouble at 185 than him. I’m not saying he’s going to win, it’s another fight, another time, another style, but Adesanya must be praying, ‘For the love of God, put someone like Phil Davis for this guy.”

“He hits your right rib and the left rib hurts,” Teixeira added with a laugh. “Adesanya is no match for him. First of all, he’ll be coming in sh*t-scared. [Pereira] knocked him out with 10-ounce gloves. With four-ounce gloves on his hand now… And Adesanya doesn’t have the knockout power Poatan has. He’s f*cking good, don’t get me wrong, Adesanya is awesome, but he doesn’t hit like him. Adesanya hits like a normal guy, Poatan is not normal.”

The middleweight king is arguably the best striker in MMA but Teixeira expects Adesanya would try to wrestle Pereira if they square off inside the Octagon.

“Adesanya has no ground game, at least based on what I saw in his last fight,” Teixeira said. “Adesanya has no ground and wrestling to take Poatan down. In fact, I think Poatan is better than him.”

“I won’t tell you he’s one of the best, a ‘Jacare’ or Rodolfo Vieira on the ground,” Teixeira added. “But he defends well on the ground, has good defensive wrestling, and the way he moves on the feet makes it tougher to close the distance. I have good takedowns, but it’s hard to get to him. I expect him to do well in the UFC.”

The UFC 267 headliner admits that the road to a middleweight title shot will not be easy for his friend.

“I do believe it’s tougher to get to Adesanya than fighting him today,” Teixeira said. “If they put him against Adesanya right off the bat, I believe it’s easier for him than getting to Adesanya. Styles make fights. For example, I beat Marreta’ [Thiago Santos] and Marreta knocked out Blachowicz, and Blachowicz knocked out a guy that defeated me, Corey Anderson.

“I told [Pereira] that striking in MMA is a bit different than striking in kickboxing. You’re more relaxed in kickboxing, you don’t need too much footwork and things like that, and he knows it. He’s super smart, he’s a high-level athlete. He’s not just a kickboxer, he’s a high-level athlete with incredible power, incredible preparation, and I believe he’ll do well in the UFC.”

Do you agree with Glover Teixeira? Is Israel Adesanya worried by Alex Pereira signing with the UFC?

Ahead Of Debut, Alex Pereira Is Focused On Gold Not Israel Adesanya

GLORY Kickboxing champion Alex Pereira is ready to leave the shadow of Israel Adesanya behind after beating him twice in kickboxing. During his time as a kickboxer, Pereira was matched with the outspoken Adesanya twice, with their first encounter resulting in a unanimous decision victory. Although, when they met in their second fight a year […]

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GLORY Kickboxing champion Alex Pereira is ready to leave the shadow of Israel Adesanya behind after beating him twice in kickboxing.

During his time as a kickboxer, Pereira was matched with the outspoken Adesanya twice, with their first encounter resulting in a unanimous decision victory. Although, when they met in their second fight a year later, the 34-year old Brazilian managed to hand Adesanya his only knockout loss in his long and illustrious mixed-martial-arts career.

Instead of rekindling a heated rivalry with Adesanya, Pereira is simply focused on becoming UFC champion to add to his list of mixed martial arts accomplishments. However, the polished kickboxer admits that if “The Last Stylebender” is the one holding gold when he makes it to the top, then a third fight will be in the cards after all.

“I want to make it very clear that I didn’t come to the UFC because of Adesanya. I came to be the champion. If he’s the champion when I get there, fine. But it might not be. Who has to think about me is him, who lost twice, not me,” Pereira told Sportskeeda.

In their second meeting, Pereira details some of what happened in the fight, and what he saw as he pursued the elusive knockout against Adesanya.

“When we fought, he started well, he was beating me, but even though I got beaten up a lot, I didn’t get tired. I knocked him out and let it out because he likes to tease, especially when weighing. He spoke badly about Brazil, about me… When he fell, I really let go,” Pereira added.

The 34-year old Pereira struggled against Adesanya a few years ago but realizes that some of the champion’s pre-fight antics only helped fuel his desire to follow up his shots with more intent. The two fighters have taken drastically different paths since they last met, with Adesanya now sitting atop the middleweight throne unbeaten.

Pereira is set to debut at UFC 268 in New York City, New York, on Nov. 6 inside the famed Madison Square Garden venue. Ahead of the blockbuster PPV event, Pereira realizes that the matchup with Andreas Michailidis will set the barometer as to where he stands among the rest of the middleweight division and, of course, what is to come next.

Continue Reading Ahead Of Debut, Alex Pereira Is Focused On Gold Not Israel Adesanya at MMA News.

Alex Pereira, Who KO’d Israel Adesanya, Has UFC Debut Scheduled

Alex Pereira, the only man to KO Israel Adesanya in Glory Kickboxing, is close to signing with the UFC and has his promotional debut set. According to De Telegraaf, Pereira will sign with the Las Vegas-based promotion following his upcoming rematch wit…

Alex Pereira, the only man to KO Israel Adesanya in Glory Kickboxing, is close to signing with the UFC and has his promotional debut set. According to De Telegraaf, Pereira will sign with the Las Vegas-based promotion following his upcoming rematch with Artem Vakhitov, which goes down Saturday in the Netherlands. Pereira will compete in […]

Continue Reading Alex Pereira, Who KO’d Israel Adesanya, Has UFC Debut Scheduled at MMA News.

REPORT | Alex Pereira vs. Andreas Michailidis Set For UFC 268

Alex PereiraBrazilian kickboxer and former GLORY middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is set to make his highly anticipated UFC debut on November 6 at UFC 268 in Madison Square Garden. According to a report from BJPENN.com, both sides have verbally agreed to the bout, and expect the contracts to be signed in the coming […]

Alex Pereira

Brazilian kickboxer and former GLORY middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is set to make his highly anticipated UFC debut on November 6 at UFC 268 in Madison Square Garden.

According to a report from BJPENN.com, both sides have verbally agreed to the bout, and expect the contracts to be signed in the coming days for Pereira and Andreas Michailidis to compete in a middleweight bout.

On Thursday, news of Pereira’s UFC signing was first reported by De Telegraaf and later confirmed by MMA Fighting. While Pereira is a highly accomplished kickboxer with multiple world championships, some will argue his most impressive victories have come against current UFC Middleweight king Israel Adesanya, where Pereira has KO’d and won by Unanimous Decision in his two bouts against Adesanya.

Pereira is 3-1 in MMA with his most recent bout being a KO win at an LFA event in November 2020.

Michailidis is 13-4 in MMA and is 1-1 since joining the UFC. Last time out he picked up a unanimous decision win against KB Bhullar.

This will be a highly anticipated debut on the UFC 268 Prelims. Only time will tell if Pereira will be able to reach the ranks of the top middleweights in the world one day.

Do you think Alex Pereira will enjoy a winning UFC debut on November 6?

VIDEO | Alex Pereira Scores One-Punch, Faceplant KO

PereiraAlex Pereira made his highly anticipated LFA debut Friday night and it was worth the wait as he got another KO. Pereira is known from being the only man to KO the current UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya back in the day. Pereira, who just signed with LFA this year, is mainly a kickboxer that […]

Pereira

Alex Pereira made his highly anticipated LFA debut Friday night and it was worth the wait as he got another KO. Pereira is known from being the only man to KO the current UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya back in the day.

Pereira, who just signed with LFA this year, is mainly a kickboxer that transitioned to MMA in 2015, however he still competes in kickboxing and is the current Middleweight and interim Light Heavyweight champion for GLORY. On Friday night Pereira got his first LFA victory in the first round by landing a perfect left hook 4 minutes into the fight.

You can watch the KO below:

Pereira is now 3-1 in MMA and riding a three fight win streak finishing all fights via KO/TKO, he only lost his debut fight in 2015 via third round submission. This was Pereira’s first MMA fight since 2016 and he is now looking to be more consistent in MMA and climb the ranks. After the fight Pereira said “I’m very happy to be in MMA, I’ve been training with Glover Teixeira for 3-4 months, and I’m happy with the results.” (Transcribed by talkSPORT)

The Brazilian had two fights with Adesanya in GLORY, the famous one where he KO’d the Nigerian UFC champion and a second fight in which Pereira won via unanimous decision. He recently stated that he doesn’t believe that Adesanya wants to fight him again for a third time.

What do you think of Alex Periera’s KO?