Much has been made of Alex Pereira claiming he was at 40% of his potential coming into the first Magomed Ankalaev fight. The former middleweight and light heavyweight champion says he’s never been fully
healthy, and that may be a good thing for the sport because of what he’d do at 100%.
In a new interview with McKenzie Pavacich, “Poatan” discussed his health after a seven month break
and fighting to his full ability.“I don’t think I’ve ever been at 100%,” Pereira said through a translator. “I think if I was at 100% in fighting, I’d probably kill someone.”
When asked what percentage he was at coming into UFC 320, he shrugged.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But I’m much better than the last fight. I can’t wait to see it.”
Surprisingly, Pereira isn’t looking for a quick knockout win against Ankalaev.
“In all honesty, if I could pick the outcome, I’d want a five rounder where I can dominate, where I can leave no doubts,” the knockout artist said. “And you know, people are gonna say, ‘Oh, what about the knockout or submission?’ Sure, great. But if I can dominate, if I can control the five rounds and not leave any doubt, that’s what I would really envision and want in a perfect world.”
Wins and losses are clearly important to “Poatan,” but it all feeds into his ability to inspire and help people in his home country of Brazil.
“A lot of people go through hardships, go through a lot of crazy things,” Pereira said. “And to be able to help them? In the institute that I just opened in Brazil, we’ve got already 706 kids in two or three months. And not just through martial arts. We have English classes. We have computing classes. All those things that I know are going to be important in those kids’ lives. So to be able to inspire them and be able to motivate them and do all that, I think about that a lot. And to be able just to give back.”
“Back in the day my brother and I would go over there and there was Capoeira classes, and we would just sit there and watch and try to do the moves when we got back home. Because we couldn’t pay to train over there. Now I go over there, there’s over 700 kids. They’re training kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, English classes, computing classes, and they don’t pay anything for that.”
Stories like that are why Pereira will continue to be a fan favorite, win or lose. And if he does lose at UFC 320, there’s always more title opportunities yet another class up at heavyweight.
