"The guy has a fake record" - Alex Pereira blasts Sean Strickland's recent opponent for throwing shade at him and Israel Adesanya
Sunday's headliner Abus Magomedov suffered his first loss in the octagon in just his second UFC fight against Sean Strickland. Former champion Alex Pereira was on hand to review the main event on his YouTube channel.
Pereira stated that he was not surprised with Magomedov being unable to contend for longer in the fight and referenced the German's criticism of him and Israel Adesanya:
"The first round Abus aggressive, strong but could not keep that strength for long - this for me was nothing new actually - I had reacted to something he had spoken, criticized about me, about my fights and I spoke and showed everyone his record. The guy has a record fake, so I was saying impossible to fight against a guy like Strickland... Abus spoke about me and Adesanya, [saying] if he would fight with me or with Adesanya he would smash both."
Alex Pereira highlighted Abus Magomedov's impressive professional record with 25 wins, but questioned its legitimacy. Magomedov has previously competed in regional promotions, the German MMA Championship and most recently, the PFL.
"All of you watched the fight - a guy who, I will repeat has a fake record - he has a lot of fights, but against who? If you watched the fight you see this guy was turning his back to the referee, showing to everybody, as well to the referee, that he didn't want to fight anymore. It was very difficult for him. But I am sure he will grow against this fight. I didn't really see any fights of him, but he is a guy, who has potential in the organization but he has to change a little bit this attitude."
Pereira pointed out that Magomedov's stellar 19-second knockout win in his UFC debut was not sufficient to gauge his game. The Brazilian did, however, predict success for the Russian-born fighter if he undergoes a shift in his mentality.
Check out Alex Pereira's comments below:
Abus Magomedov declined Alex Pereira's offer to spar against each other
Alex Pereira had another bone to pick with Abus Magomedov.
The German fighter reportedly turned down two offers to spar with Pereira in the past. Although 'Poatan' accused Magomedov of being scared, the middleweight prospect explained his case in a recent interview with CBS Sports.
Magomedov mentioned that the initial sparring offer came 10 days before his UFC debut in Paris and therefore he had to decline due to his intense weight-cutting regimen.
The next offer came when Alex Pereira was the UFC middleweight champion and Magomedov's coaches advised against training alongside a potential future opponent.
Check out Magomedov's comments below: