Alex Pereira admits the moment he was most scared of Sean Strickland ahead of their fight
Alex Pereira is almost devoid of emotion. He is the embodiment of a stone-cold killer. However, the newly-minted UFC middleweight champion admitted that one fighter in the UFC has stoked fear in his heart, and it isn't his longtime rival Israel Adesanya.
Pereira revealed that he’d never been more afraid in a fight than when he had to face Sean Strickland at UFC 276. During an interview with the Brazilian channel So Papos MMA, the 35-year-old said:
"I was scared, but when I heard him talk, I relaxed a little bit. He is a good fighter and a experienced one, but he was talking some stuff that didn’t make any sense. For a few months since the fight was booked I had fear, but it was under control. But I’ll tell you when I was the most afraid. Everything he said and up until the weigh-in, everything was fine. When he entered the octagon and started staring at me, he hadn’t looked at me that way before. That was when I became scared."
Listen to Alex Pereira's interview in the video below:
Pereira ended up knocking out Strickland in the first round. The awe-inspiring victory earned him a title shot against former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 281. The rest, of course, is history.
"If he really wants it, he's next" - Alex Pereira gives Israel Adesanya a piece of advice
Alex Pereira is ready to take on all-comers for his first title defense. However, the Brazilian revealed that he's willing to jump back in with Israel Adesanya if that's the direction the UFC wants to take.
As far as Pereira is concerned, it would be unwise for Adesanya to have an immediate rematch against him. But if that's what the former middleweight champion wants, 'Poatan' revealed that he wouldn't have a problem with it:
"It makes no difference to me if it’s him [Adesanya] or another guy,” Pereira told ESPN Brazil. "If I were him, though, I’d say ‘I’m not fighting right now. I’m going to wait a little, think about what I’m going to do. Since he wants it, though. I mean, he used to be the champion. If he really wants it, he has earned the right because he has five title defenses."
Check out Israel Adesanya's post:
Based on Adesanya's comments, it appears as though he's planning to run it back with Pereira as soon as he can. However, there hasn't been an official announcement about when a rematch could take place.