UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier wonders if Alex Pereira is fully locked in ahead of his upcoming light heavyweight title defense.
UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will face the surging Magomed Ankalaev in his next title defense within the UFC 313 fundamental event. He returns after his ‘Fighter of the Yr’ candidate in 2024 with three successful defenses of his championship; including two pay-per-view-saving victories.
Pereira will face arguably the hardest test of his title reign against Ankalaev, who hasn’t lost a fight since 2018. The 2 have also traded barbs for months and the buildup is predicted to select up ahead of fight night.
Ahead of UFC 313, Pereira has been busy all over the world, including most recently in Australia for UFC 312. He was a key member of Sean Strickland‘s corner for his former foe’s middleweight title fight, and just days after the fights, Pereira met rapper Drake while attending one in all his concert events.
Daniel Cormier, after winning championships in two weight classes, knows a thing or two about how critical the ultimate weeks of coaching camp are for a fighter. Cormier is anxious Pereira isn’t taking Ankalaev as seriously as he should.
Daniel Cormier questions Alex Pereira’s deal with Magomed Ankalaev
During a recent episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy, Cormier explained what concerns him probably the most about Pereira’s upcoming fight.
“Ankalaev’s already [in Las Vegas], he’s locked in, I bumped into him on the UFC PI last week. He’s truthfully so locked in, able to win this fight against Alex Pereira,” Cormier said. “[Pereira] was in Australia last week, shaking the hand of Drake as he went on stage for his concert…what’s Pereira still doing in Australia? He fights in two weeks!
“I got back from Australia and all last week, I’m up at three o’clock within the morning. I don’t care that Pereira’s got weeks to prepare, he’s going to be ready and going to be prepared, but even those two to a few extra days when he’s adjusting his clock to get back on schedule in Connecticut…he’s going to should take care of all that travel and all that difference in time. And where’s Glover [Teixeira]? Is Glover just in Australia with him? Is it just him and Plinio [Cruz]?
“Glover’s the guy, truthfully, that needs to be doing probably the most work with Alex at once due to [Ankalaev’s] wrestling…Pereira higher get home, he must get home and lock in, because he has the toughest fight of his title reign.”
Ankalaev secured the title shot by defeating Aleksandar Rakić at UFC 308 in October. After winning, Ankalaev told Pereira to ‘stop running away’ from him in a fiery callout.
Alex Pereira has a possible heavyweight fight in his sights after UFC 313
Ahead of UFC 313, Pereira repeatedly teased an eventual move to heavyweight for an excellent fight against either Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall. Jones, before and after defeating Stipe Miocic in November, put Pereira at the highest of his list of desired opponents for a UFC return.
After Pereira appeared to comply with a fight with UFC middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis, Ankalaev called Pereira a ‘TikTok chick’ at UFC 312. Ankalaev has also hinted at knocking out Pereira on the feet as a substitute of using a wrestling-heavy approach.
Depending on what happens at UFC 313, Pereira could potentially be on the ultimate stretch of his light heavyweight reign. But within the meantime, Cormier stays anxious that Pereira isn’t laser-focused on continuing to retain his throne.
