“Wake Up Mate”: Shakur Stevenson Sparks Outrage After Admitting He Doesn’t Know Who UFC Champ Alex Pereira Is

You’d think the top athletes would at least have a rough idea of who their fellow elites are, especially when they’re making waves across multiple disciplines. But apparently, that’s not always the case. Enter Shakur Stevenson, who has now found himself at the center of UFC fans’ fury after admitting he had no idea who Alex Pereira was.

It all went down during a series of interviews in Saudi Arabia, where comedian Jon-Bernard Kairouz went around asking pugilists and promoters whether they thought the UFC light heavyweight champion could hang with Oleksandr Usyk in the ring.

Both Usyk and Pereira have previously shown an interest in fighting each other. Besides, with the UFC having grown exponentially in the last few years, knowing who Pereira is shouldn’t have been a big deal. And to be fair, to most pugilists, responding to Kairouz, it wasn’t.

Some, like Joseph Parker and boxing coach Teddy Atlas, gave ‘Poatan’ credit for his monstrous left hook. Others, like Eddie Hearn, were more skeptical about the Brazilian’s chances against the unified heavyweight champion of boxing. Then there was Stevenson.

When asked about Poatan, Stevenson had no idea who was being spoken about. “I don’t know who that is“, he said.

The reaction? Utter disbelief, and plenty of roasting from fight fans.

The idea that a high-level boxer like Stevenson wouldn’t know about Pereira, a two-time UFC champion and former two-division Glory Kickboxing champ, was just too much for fans to handle. The comments section blew up instantly, with people calling him out.

“Shakur lying bro,” one fan said, with utter disbelief. Given how much Pereira has been in the headlines, the idea that a fellow fighter hasn’t at least heard his name? ‘Pretty sus’, as zoomers would call it.

“This proves Shakur ain’t sh!t seriously,” another added taking it as a sign of disrespect from Stevenson.

Perhaps the UFC is just not as famous as MMA fans would like to think. While the sport has gone global, UFC’s stingy nature in promoting it or a reluctance to actively build superstars within its roster can result in major players not being recognized.

Fortunately, UFC fans have always been the virtuoso of patience and understanding.

“Pereira more famous than Shakur lmao,” a UFC fan said, making claims that could not be substantiated. “Shakur not knowing Poatan is wild,” added another in disbelief. 

“Shakur wake up mate,” was one of the more civilized responses to the video. 

“Pereira is more famous than Shakur pillowhands and Usyk combined,” claimed another UFC viewer, seemingly delusional in his perception of things.

It should be noted that while Stevenson might just be ignorant of other combat sports athletes, and there’s a good chance that he is, UFC fans should also realize that MMA is just not as widely popular as puglism.

It’s simply a newer sport and is primarily brought to the masses by one promotion. And that kind of monopoly over a sport has historically proven detrimental to its popularity. Obviously, there are other factors at play as well.

So, in the meantime, fans shouldn’t be worried about boxers not knowing who UFC stars are. If the sport outgrows pugilism, enough people will talk about it without having to be asked by influencers.

Besides, what are the odds that Pereira vs Usyk (the question that started this hulabaloo) is a real eventuality?

Usyk wants retirement fight against Pereira

Conor McGregor is probably UFC’s most famous export to pugilism, and his record is tragic, to say the least. While the mega fight against Floyd Mayweather changed his life financially, McGregor lost to the fighter, who was towards the end of his career, rather convincingly.

Pereira, of course, has a lot more pedigree outside the octagon, with world titles in kickboxing, but it also might not be enough. Especially since he wants to take on the greatest heavyweight boxer of this generation, one who currently holds the WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO titles and is an Olympic gold medalist!

Regardless, Pereira’s interest has been reciprocated by Usyk, who has hinted that his final bout before retirement could be a “show fight” against ‘Poatan’.

“[After Dubois or Parker], maybe a ‘show fight’ with Alex Pereira,” Usyk said. “Maybe. Why not? Alex wants to.”

While Pereira has a 1-0 record in amateur boxing, with a TKO win over Marcelo de Souza Cruz, the biggest obstacle is his UFC contract. White had recently stopped McGregor from being involved with Logan Paul in a boxing match in India.

So unless the UFC bossman is feeling generous or has already dipped his toe in pugilism like he has been planning for years now, Pereira’s chances look slim.