Alex Pereira's coach explains how 'Poatan' prepared and managed to fight at UFC 303 despite injury
UFC light-heavyweight world champion Alex Pereira further cemented his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of this era by stopping former foe Jiri Prochazka yet again at UFC 303 last weekend. Interestingly, 'Poatan' was seen visibly "popping back" his toe due to an alleged injury he suffered before the fight, which made the second-round head kick knockout even more impressive.
Check out Alex Pereira seemingly fixing his toe injury (0:40 mark) right after knocking out Jiri Prochazka here:
In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, Alex Pereira's coach, Plinio Cruz, addressed the alleged toe injury and how 'Poatan' prepared to face Prochazka knowing his foot is compromised.
Cruz said:
"Honestly, the only time he [Pereira] ever kicked in the past few months, like six months, was the first Jiri [Prochazka] fight [UFC 295, November 2023]. On the fight he fought Jamal Hill [UUFC 300, April 2024], he kicked on the pads for me to warm him up, then he didn't kick anymore because he broke his second toe in that fight. So he had both broken toes. Then throughout Australia, we were just doing hands."
To never kick for six months and then use that weapon one time to KO a former world champion is like keeping that one bullet in the chamber and then waiting for the right moment for the kill shot. Incredible indeed.
Watch Cruz talking about Pereira's injured toe in this video posted by MMA Fighting on X:
Alex Pereira's coach, Plinio Cruz, says 'Poatan' called his head kick KO finish while warming up in the locker room
On another interesting note, even though his toe was compromised, Alex Pereira truly intended to end the night with a head kick. He called his shot upon seeing Jiri Prochazka warming up in the locker room. Upon observation, 'Poatan' knew that the shot that would put the Czech away was a foot to the face.
Plinio Cruz said (Via The MMA Hour):
"There was a video of Jiri [Prochazka] checking the calf kicks then using his hands. First I look then tell Alex [Pereira], 'come here check this thing out. The way that he's blocking your calf kicks is wrong. He's gonna get caught.'"
He continued:
"Then Alex said, 'Yes, [but] the timing that he is doing is wrong. I think I can use some high kicks with this guy'. I say, 'you absolutely can'."
Watch Plinio Cruz talk about this here: