Alex Pereira takes on Jiri Prochazka this weekend for the light heavyweight title at UFC 295. After Jon Jones’ injury, Dana White announced that Pereira vs Prochazka will be the main event the show. ‘Poatan’ has the chance to add another impressive feat to his already glittering MMA resume. If he wins the fight on Saturday night, Pereira will become one of the very few fighters to have won belts in two weight classes. However, that will be easier said than done against an extremely tough and well matched opponent in ‘Denisa’.
The fight between ‘Denisa’ and ‘Poatan’ is a dream for hard core MMA fans. However, for the casual follower, he does not strike a cord like Jones vs Miocic did. Alex Pereira is not the craziest character in the UFC. He does not talk trash or sell fights the way fighters like Conor McGregor, Sean O’Malley, and Nate Diaz do. It also makes it more difficult given the fact that he does not speak english.
In a recent interview, a reporter asked Dana White if the above mentioned points hurt Pereira’s chances of being a superstar in the sport. The UFC head did not share the same opinion. He said,
“See that is why I think that you’re wrong. I think that he does have charisma, it is different than anybody else’s. He is a mean looking mother fu**er okay? He is a scary dude. And that is a persona in itself. And I say this all the time, people are like oh should you act like Conor McGregor? Should you be this? Should you be that? No you should be you.. You can be a deaf mute in this sport. If you’re a bada** and you can win a world title, does not matter.” (7:12 to 7:40)
The UFC President was clearly of the opinion that a fighter should not do certain things like others. He mentioned that a fighter must have his own persona. White also stated that Pereira does not need to act like McGregor as he had his own scary persona.
Let’s take a closer look at Dana White’s opinion on the situation.
Is lack of trash talk hurting the Dana White led UFC and Alex Pereira?
Alex Pereira signed for the UFC in 2021. He signed for the promotion as a multiple-weight multiple-time world champion in kickboxing. Pereira has one of the most if not the most impressive resumes in the world of kickboxing. After transitioning to MMA, ‘Potatan’ had four fights with other organisations before the UFC came calling. In the short span of two years, he has established himself as one of the scariest knockout artists in the sport.
However, given how he is as a person, it is unlikely that Pereira would ever adopt the Conor McGregor approach to selling a fight. As White mentioned, individuality is something fans value extremely highly. Fighters trying to copy McGregor are immediately branded ‘wannabes’. Therefore, it is in the best interest of both the UFC as well as Pereira to keep things as it is in order to better connect with fans. Afterall it is the storyline that ultimately sells the fights, and not the fighters.
