Daniel Cormier explains why he’s ‘concerned’ about Alex Pereira’s final preparations for UFC 313
UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier wonders if Alex Pereira is fully locked in ahead of his upcoming light heavyweight title defense.
UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will face the surging Magomed Ankalaev in his next title defense in the UFC 313 main event. He returns after his ‘Fighter of the Year’ candidate in 2024 with three successful defenses of his championship; including two pay-per-view-saving victories.
Pereira will face arguably the toughest test of his title reign against Ankalaev, who hasn’t lost a fight since 2018. The two have also traded barbs for months and the buildup is expected to pick up ahead of fight night.
Ahead of UFC 313, Pereira has been busy around the world, including most recently in Australia for UFC 312. He was a key member of Sean Strickland‘s corner for his former foe’s middleweight title fight, and just days after the fights, Pereira met rapper Drake while attending one of his concerts.
Daniel Cormier, after winning championships in two weight classes, knows a thing or two about how critical the final weeks of training camp are for a fighter. Cormier is concerned Pereira isn’t taking Ankalaev as seriously as he should.
Daniel Cormier questions Alex Pereira’s focus on Magomed Ankalaev
During a recent episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy, Cormier explained what concerns him the most about Pereira’s upcoming fight.
“Ankalaev’s already [in Las Vegas], he’s locked in, I ran into him at the UFC PI last week. He’s honestly so locked in, ready to win this fight against Alex Pereira,” Cormier said. “[Pereira] was in Australia last week, shaking the hand of Drake as he went on stage for his concert…what is Pereira still doing in Australia? He fights in two weeks!
“I got back from Australia and all last week, I’m up at three o’clock in the morning. I don’t care that Pereira’s got weeks to get ready, he’s going to be ready and going to be prepared, but even those two to three extra days when he’s adjusting his clock to get back on schedule in Connecticut…he’s going to have to deal with all that travel and all that difference in time. And where’s Glover [Teixeira]? Is Glover just in Australia with him? Is it just him and Plinio [Cruz]?
“Glover’s the guy, honestly, that should be doing the most work with Alex right now because of [Ankalaev’s] wrestling…Pereira better get home, he needs to get home and lock in, because he has the hardest fight of his title reign.”
Ankalaev secured the title shot by defeating Aleksandar Rakić at UFC 308 in October. After winning, Ankalaev told Pereira to ‘stop running away’ from him in a fiery callout.
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Alex Pereira has a potential heavyweight fight in his sights after UFC 313
Ahead of UFC 313, Pereira repeatedly teased an eventual move to heavyweight for a super fight against either Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall. Jones, before and after defeating Stipe Miocic in November, put Pereira at the top of his list of desired opponents for a UFC return.
After Pereira appeared to agree to a fight with UFC middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis, Ankalaev called Pereira a ‘TikTok chick’ at UFC 312. Ankalaev has also hinted at knocking out Pereira on the feet instead of using a wrestling-heavy approach.
Depending on what happens at UFC 313, Pereira could potentially be on the final stretch of his light heavyweight reign. But in the meantime, Cormier remains worried that Pereira isn’t laser-focused on continuing to retain his throne.
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