Alex Pereira is set to defend his title against Magomed Ankalaev, a formidable opponent with a dominant wrestling style. However, Pereira has been touring the world, doing side quests leading to some fans speculating he might be distracted. However, this collaboration with Nina Marie Daniele should shut all the haters up.
Nina has always been a good friend to Pereira and has managed to bring out a side of him to the world that we don’t see every day. While his title reign and knockout wins have undoubtedly made him the marquee superstar he is today, Nina’s contribution to his stardom cannot be ignored either.
Through her funny videos and promotional interviews, she has brought out a more humane side to UFC fighters, nobody has benefitted from them as much as ‘Poatan’. This particular skit was no different.
In this video, Daniele is seen trying to flirt with Pereira while he is training. She appears to longingly gaze at him while he is shadowboxing, eventually handing him her phone number on a paper towel.
However, instead of entertaining the gesture, Pereira casually wipes his sweat with it and continues his workout, completely unfazed.
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The video has quickly gained traction on social media, with fans praising Pereira’s intense mentality and Daniele’s comedic timing. Some have even called it the perfect way to silence critics who doubted the champion’s dedication ahead of the biggest challenge of his career.
Of course, a sketch would be a difficult way to convince doubters when one of them has been a decorated UFC champion himself.
Pereira prepared for 25 minutes of hell?
Pereira was a part of Sean Strickland’s camp for his middleweight title challenge at UFC 312. But days after the event, he was still spotted in Sydney having a good time.
This led to concerns from analysts like Cormier and Chael Sonnen, who questioned whether he was fully focused on his preparation.
Adding to the narrative, Pereira’s opponent, Magomed Ankalaev even dismissed him as a ‘TikTok chick.’
However, Pereira put these doubts to rest by sharing training footage on Instagram Stories. One clip, which emphasized his grappling defense, came with a direct message to Cormier. “Don’t worry @dc_mma We’re over here working.”, the UFC light heavyweight champion asserted.
Alex Pereira responds to DC pic.twitter.com/QTMvuK5ae0
— Dovy (@DovySimuMMA) February 22, 2025
The Brazilian has been focusing a lot more on his grappling skills ahead of this fight, to prepare for the threat of Magomed Ankalaev.
And what better person to train with than one of the best light heavyweight wrestlers in the history of the UFC, Glover Teixeira? ‘Poatan’ has also posted a video of himself grappling with Teixeira in the snow.
Ankalaev was quick to respond to this video, warning the champion that he should be prepared to do this for 25 minutes.
It would seem that Ankalaev is not planning on testing Pereira’s striking as he previously stated. The Russian will stick to his bread and butter and try to dominate the fight on the ground, which would make him the first title challenger to do so against Pereira!
