"He barely touched me", "In a few minutes, she got it" - Alex Pereira and Nina-Marie Daniele reflect on famed left hook training session
UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and MMA reporter Nina-Marie Daniele have shared their thoughts on the experience of training together.
Pereira is currently preparing to defend his belt for the first time in the main event of UFC 300 on April 13. 'Poatan' will face former champ Jamahal Hill, who originally relinquished the title after rupturing his Achilles tendon.
Ahead of his bout against 'Sweet Dreams', Pereira welcomed Daniele into his training session as part of episode 3 of the UFC 300 Embedded Vlog series. In the video, the Brazilian showed Daniele the ropes and gave her a session focused on his devastating and famed left hook.
Nina-Marie Daniele then spoke to the camera and shared her thoughts on the experience. According to the MMA jounalist, Pereira was going soft and she was still incredibly impressed. She said:
"To get in the ring with Alex [Pereira], it's insane. It's wild. He barely touched me, he gave me level 1 out of 10."
Pereira also gave his thoughts on teaching Daniele his iconic left hook and said:
"She wanted to learn the left hook. Everyone talks about it. Many people say I'm strong. But it's like I showed her, I instructed her like she was a professional fighter. I instructed the same way. Of course it's not easy for her as she's not a fighter but she did well. In a few minutes, she got it."
Check out the clip and both Alex Pereira and Nine-Marie Daniele's comments here (1:30):
Jamahal Hill claims "bad things" are going to happen to Alex Pereira at UFC 300
Jamahal Hill is set to return to action after more than a year out through injury, when he faces Alex Pereira at UFC 300 this weekend.
Speaking to the media this week, 'Sweet Dreams' was asked his thoughts on the fight. According to Hill, whilst Pereira is certainly a worthy champion and deserves his praise, it isn't going to matter come Saturday night. He said:
"I did see that he could possibly be an opponent in the future and I was excited for it. I wanted him to win. When I got hurt and I had to give up the belt, it was like, 'Alright, what's the best course? What's the best that could happen now?' Because somebody else is going to win the belt. Who better than Alex to win the belt?"
Hill continued:
"Y'all think - and he is - he's one of the - he's a two-division GLORY champion, two-division UFC champion, kickboxing great, hands of stone, bad man, just a monster, dangerous, scary dude. He's all those things. But watch what I do to him."
Check out Jamahal Hill's comments on Alex Pereira here (10:13):