In the very short time that he has been in the UFC, Alex Pereira has quickly built a cult-like fan following thanks to his performances inside the cage as well as his persona outside it. However, former UFC fighter Laureano Staripoli’s gesture towards ‘Poatan’ left fans questioning his motives.
For the uninitiated, Staripoli is a former UFC fighter from Argentina who joined the company as a highly touted prospect with a record of 7-1 and an extremely high finish rate.
‘Pepi’ made his UFC debut in November 2018 with a win against Hector Aldana and followed that up with another win over Thiago Alves. Unfortunately things started going downhill as he lost four fights on the trot and was ultimately cut from the UFC.
A video that is now going viral on Twitter shows Staripoli with a massive tattoo of Alex Pereira on his calf. Needless to say, fans had a lot to say on Staripoli’s gesture towards ‘Poatan’.
Former UFC welterweight, Laureano Staripoli got a tattoo of Alex Pereira on his leg pic.twitter.com/at9fDB2ZQt
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) July 17, 2024
One fan said, “Ultimate glazer”
Ultimate glazer
— Earl (@EarlBrickley2) July 17, 2024
“Sus”– commented a fan poking fun at Staripoli
Sus
— mmaDarkSide (@mmaDarkSide0417) July 17, 2024
“How you gonna get another man tat on your leg”- questioned a fan.
How you gonna get another man tat on your leg
— UPFRONT MMA (@upfrontmma) July 17, 2024
A fan commented, “That is weird as shit”
That is weird as shit
— Flare Knight☀️ (@FlareKnightFLR) July 17, 2024
Now, while that leg tattoo is definitely a bit on the nose, one cannot blame Staripoli. Afterall, Pereira has a chance to further cement his legacy in the sport and in the UFC by becoming a three division world champion.
Dana White reveals Joe Rogan’s pressure for Alex Pereira’s next fight
After his win over Jiri Prochazka, Joe Rogan as well as UFC fans had only one fight in mind, Jon Jones vs Alex Pereira.
Rogan pushed for it from the minute Pereira landed the high kick to knock out ‘Denisa’. Since the fight, White has stated in multiple interviews that Rogan has been hounding him to get that fight made.
Most recently, when he appeared on Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast, he mentioned once again how Rogan has not stopped pushing for it. To be fair to Rogan, it will be a blockbuster for sure. And he does have a good mind for these kind of matchups, afterall, despite his incredible pedigree in the business, he’s a fan first.
He is also the ultimate hype-man and so yeah, hopefully he can convince White to make the fight happen.
Unfortunately, it is not a fight that could happen right away since there are a lot of other moving parts that need to be figured out, according to Dana White.
