"Convince me otherwise" - Jamahal Hill alleges that Alex Pereira lost to Bruno Silva and that 'Poatan' doesn't dominate whole rounds in his fights
Alex Pereira's capabilities as a fighter have been called into question by his UFC 300 opponent, Jamahal Hill. The pair will cross swords nearly three weeks from now on April 13, 2024, and the pair will do battle for the Brazilian's newly minted UFC light heavyweight title, which Hill previously held before an injury forced him to vacate the belt.
Ahead of their championship bout, Hill has repeatedly dismissed Pereira's skills. Now, he has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to not only claim that 'Poatan' doesn't dominate his opponents for entire rounds, but that the reigning 205-pound titleholder actually lost his fight with Bruno Silva. He wrote:
"Bruno Silva beat Alex convince me otherwise, also show me one round of him just straight out classing somebody????"
It is a bold statement to make about one of the most credentialed strikers to ever compete in the UFC. Pereira's unanimous decision win over Silva was decisive, with 'Poatan' dominating the striking exchanges. While Hill disagrees, he has also stated that Pereira has never outclassed an opponent.
Another impressive 'Poatan' performance that Hill dismissed was his knockout win over Sean Strickland. Sweet Dreams' underplayed the KO, saying 'Poatan' merely caught Strickland, and didn't comprehensively outclass him. This, however, isn't exactly the truth, as Pereira conditioned his foe to drop his hands by stabbing his midsection with body jabs.
Strickland has a well-known habit of parrying most of the strikes that come his way. So when he and Pereira clashed, 'Poatan' drew his hands low with body jabs, and once it became clear that Strickland would drop his hands to parry body shots, Pereira dipped low to tease a body jab, only to uncork a left hook over the top.
It sent Strickland crashing into the mat, before 'Poatan' finished him with a follow-up shot. However, Hill is correct in osberving that most of Pereira's wins are from hyper-competitive bouts - especially his come-from-behind TKO of Israel Adesanya and recent TKO win over Jiří Procházka.
Alex Pereira hopes for a quick turnaround at UFC 301
While Alex Pereira is currently scheduled to headline UFC 300, he is confident enough in his ability to beat Jamahal Hill that he hopes to make a shockingly quick turnaround and fight 21 days later at UFC 301, which will be held in Pereira's native Brazil.
However, whether he can get past Hill at all, especially without sustaining any damage or injuries, is the question. Furthermore, there is no knowledge on who he would face if he is to realize his dream of headlining a UFC card in Brazil.