Alexander Volkanovski recently came out in support of Alex Pereira for accepting a title defense on short notice. Pereira has slowly established himself as a very important asset for the UFC. In the time that he has been in the promotion, ‘Poatan’ has been involved in eight fights, four of which have been for championship titles.
For Pereira’s ninth fight, he decided to accept a bout on short notice against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303. Well, in a recent video posted on his YouTube channel, Alexander Volkanovski lauded Pereira for being so brave and not cherry-picking his opponent, as he said,
“Pereira, he is defending his belt, he isn’t just fighting anyone. He is defending his belt on short notice. I am sure he would have got a good paycheck. But it just shows you what type of guy he is. You do not see many champions like this. There are a few of us that were fighting as regularly, defending regularly. There are some people that want to choose the right fights, right timing and what not. Alex Pereira isn’t one of those guys.”
Speaking from his experience, ‘The Great’ claimed it is not easy to sign up for short-notice fights. Moreover, it becomes even more difficult when the belt is on the line.
Volkanovski also stated that Pereira could have fought a lesser-known name but took the most difficult test that was available in front of him. Needless to say, it is because of fights like these that Pereira has quickly become a fan-favorite in the UFC.
Alex Pereira’s decision to accept the fight left Jiri Prochazka stunned
In a recent interview, Prochazka revealed that he was stunned when Alex Pereira accepted the fight on short notice. The former title challenger revealed that when he got a call from the UFC, he was able to negotiate a better contract for himself which included a lot more money. Hence, he assumed that the same would have been applied to Alex.
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However, Prochazka is unsure if Pereira accepted the fight for money or some other reason. Regardless, ‘BJP’ is clear that his main reason for agreeing to the fight was to make sure he gets the belt back to the Czech Republic. For him, money or any of the other factors do not matter.
