Long before Alex Pereira started hammering away champions one after the other, there was OG ‘BMF’ Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman! Casuals might not know, Coleman but he is one of the pioneers of the sport and is widely recognized as the granddaddy of ground and pound. Recently, the veteran dropped a massive prediction about the current light heavyweight champ, Pereira at UFC 302.
Taking things to his Instagram, Coleman shared a thread of two snaps, telling the world about his long-standing belief in light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira.
“I knew from the beginning he would be the champ. I predict he will hold the title for a long time. My daughters and I are big fans of him. He is truly one of the best and could be in my GOAT conversation.”
Of course, Coleman knew that the Brazilian would capture the limelight in UFC and become the champion. Well, given Coleman’s time in the UFC 1 and Pride FC, he would certainly know how dangerous a tall striker would be, not to mention one with the power of a horse and an axe of a left hook.
‘The Hammer’ believes that the Brazilian’s reign will not be a short-lived one. Earlier, the former heavyweight UFC champ even posed with the Pereira while his beautiful daughters got the opportunity to take a picture with their favorite fighter.
As for the LHW champ, he has given us some massive updates about his next UFC return, revealing his next opponent.
Alex Pereira reveals his next opponent, likely to fight in August
After demolishing former champ, Jamahal Hill with his patented left hook in April at UFC 300, Pereira has revealed that he would like to fight in August. The two names that are in front of him are Magomed Ankalaev and Jiri Prochazka. In an interview with SportsNet, the champ mentioned the details, saying,
““I’m not the type of guy to call out names or pick fights. Whoever they want me to fight [I will fight], but the name on the table right now is Jiri Prochazka. But it’s still in negotiations. I don’t know [when we would fight], we’re still in talks.”
Now, while the UFC has put the Czech Samurai’s name up front, but whoever it may be, Pereira is ready for war. During the conversation, the Brazilian even warned Ankalaev and the fandom not to underestimate and overlook his ground game because that could be the biggest mistake the Russian might commit.
