Glover Teixeira talks about being scared of Alex Pereira's reaction to trash talk and fight promotion
Glover Teixeira has stated that he's scared of how his training partner Alex Pereira would react to fight promotion-related trash talk. In the latest edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Teixeira lightheartedly asserted that Pereira is a "little weird" but is "cool" with the people he likes.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion's assertion was in response to Helwani recalling a rather intense in-studio interview with Pereira earlier this week. Helwani acknowledged that 'Poatan' is an intense individual who stared him down for almost the entirety of the interview.
Teixeira alluded to the fact that Pereira faced several challenges growing up. 'Poatan' had to work since the tender age of 12. Moreover, Pereira struggled with alcoholism for several years but bravely overcame the addiction by taking up kickboxing and becoming a successful combat sports athlete.
A Brazilian jiu-jitsu savant who helps Alex Pereira with his grappling in exchange for striking guidance from the kickboxing veteran, Glover Teixeira further expounded on 'Poatan's' serious persona. The 43-year-old indicated that he has advised Pereira not to take his opponents' trash talk to heart and fight them outside the realm of a combat sports contest:
"I'm scared of that guy. [When] I walk around with him, I hope nobody face some s**t to mess with him because he's a little – I don't know his reaction... The way he grew up and the things he's done, I'm afraid he's gonna do something. I keep telling him, 'Calm down, man. Those guys are promoting fight, man. They are promoting the fight.'"
Teixeira proceeded to seemingly mimic Pereira and said:
"Yeah? Don't try to promote the fight with me."
His only advice to 'Poatan' was:
"You can't ruin your career. Don't be going to jail, please."
Watch Teixeira discuss the topic at 0:18 in the video below:
Alex Pereira recalls dealing with archrival Israel Adesanya's trash talk in their 2017 kickboxing battle
Alex Pereira captured the UFC middleweight title by defeating Israel Adesanya via fifth-round TKO at UFC 281 on November 12. 'Poatan' previously beat Adesanya in kickboxing as well, by unanimous decision in their first bout in 2016 and via third-round KO in their rematch in 2017.
ALEX PEREIRA JUST FINISHED ISRAEL ADESANYA!!! 😱
AND NEWWWWWWW!!! 🏆
#UFC281 https://t.co/ke79appLEU
Speaking to Brazilian news outlet Combate via the Mundo Da Luta podcast last year, Alex Pereira pointed out that Israel Adesanya went all out with trash talk against him heading into their 2017 rematch. Emphasizing that he rallied in both fights despite initially being outworked by 'Izzy', Pereira said:
"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."
Watch Pereira knock out Adesanya in their kickboxing rematch below: