Alex Pereira Exclusive Interview: UFC 313 Preview
Ahead of his latest title defence against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, we caught up with UFC light-heavyweight Champion and P4P icon, Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira.
The Stake Ambassador will be looking for his fourth title defence since capturing the light-heavyweight strap in November 2023, as he looks to cement his legacy as one the greatest of all time - CHAMA!
Find out what the legend had to say ahead of the fight, and place your bets on UFC right here on Stake Sportsbook.
Q: What, if anything, makes Magomed Ankalaev a more dangerous opponent than the rest?
A: I don’t know if there is a particular thing that makes him more dangerous than the others. For example, Adesanya is more dangerous than Ankalaev. People say that they haven't seen me grapple as much, but I’m a well rounded fighter, I'm a complete fighter.
Q: You recently got your black belt in BJJ. With a lot of people saying that Ankalaev’s wrestling will be his advantage in this fight, how excited are you to show the improvements in your wrestling and BJJ if this fight does go to the ground?
A: It’s not that I want to go in there and prove anything to anyone, but I know he is going to grapple. We’ve seen a lot of fighters say ‘Oh I’m going to go in there with Pereira and stand with him and not take him down’, but I have a very unique standup game which makes it hard for grapplers to close the distance and grapple me. We’ve seen fighters who lose to me say that they lost, but they did what they said they’d do and strike with me. Maybe it’s more the fact that they couldn’t take me down!
Q. We have seen Ankalaev have difficulty defending leg kicks in the past. Is this something you’ll look to take advantage of?
A: Yeah there are going to be a lot of kicks! I’m going to use my kicks and my punches a lot.
Q: Olexsander Usyk recently called you out for a super fight. Have any talks happened yet between Turki and Dana White?
A: Honestly, I don’t know. Obviously I watched his interview, but I am super focused on my fight right now. Everything will work out with this fight, then we’ll talk about that. I have interests and I think it makes a lot of sense. I think there is a partnership between those guys and the UFC, so let’s see what happens.
Q: If you had to choose one fight after Ankaleav - who would it be? Out of DDP, Jones or Usyk?
A: That’s a hard choice. If we were to say which fight is most beneficial to me, and the better fight for me, I would say Du Plessis. Jon Jones is a different weight class and there are other variables, but what I really want, in a perfect world, would be boxing Usyk.
Q: We saw a great moment between you and Adesanya at UFC 312 - do you think your story is over now, or is there a scenario where you see yourself fighting each other again?
A: I think that’s in the past, I honestly think the fans are over it too, so I don’t think that’s possible.
Q: Who is your favourite fighter to watch?
A: I honestly don’t have a favourite fighter, but I try to watch the guys that I like whenever I can. Jon Jones is someone I like watching.
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