UFC Hall of Famer Chris Weidman believes the stress on Alex Pereira will carry out the best of him at UFC 335.
Pereira (13-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) will look to notch his first heavyweight win when he meets Sergei Pavlovich (20-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in a five-round co-main occasion Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+). Pereira is the betting underdog after he was completed by Ciryl Gane in their interim title battle at UFC Freedom 250 in June. Although Weidman sees Pavlovich as a powerful battle for Pereira, he pointed to his resume as the purpose why he’s choosing him to win.
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“It’s an exciting fight because I don’t know what’s really going to happen,” Weidman said on “Deep Waters.” “I have no idea. It’s pretty much a pick’em. I’ve got to go for Pereira, man. I just feel like his back’s against the wall right now. He’s so upset and frustrated, chip on the shoulder coming off this loss. Every time he’s lost, he came back and won.
“He lost to Izzy (Adesanya), goes up to 205, did his factor up there. Pereira’s got that championship mindset. I’m going to say he figures it out, but man it’s a powerful battle. It’s a powerful battle to call. … I think the recreation changer for Pereira is calf kicks. I think the kicks – I think he could out-kick him and form of keep out of boxing vary to begin the battle and form of cut down the legs of Pavlovich.”
Prior to the Gane loss, Pereira, also a former middleweight champm had regained his UFC gentle heavyweight title by stopping Magomed Ankalaev in just 80 seconds at UFC 320, but he opted to vacate his belt for a probability to claim a title in a third division.
This article initially appeared on MMA Junkie: Hall of Famer believes Alex Pereira’s ‘championship mindset’ helps him prevail at UFC 335
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