Daniel Cormier has a simple tip for Alex Pereira for his fight against Jan Blachowicz — don't get hit.
Pereira will make his light heavyweight debut when he faces former 205-pound champion Blachowicz in a three-round bout that will co-headline the upcoming UFC 291 pay-per-view event taking place July 29 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It will be his first fight since suffering a brutal knockout defeat to Israel Adesanya in their middleweight title rematch in April.
However, even when Pereira beat him in their first UFC encounter in November, Adesanya was able to rock him bad in the first round only for the bell to save the Brazilian.
And given the overall damage he's taken, Cormier believes it's imperative Pereira doesn't get hit by Blachowicz — who is more than capable of shutting the lights off anyone he faces.
“We have seen Adesanya hurt Pereira in two fights,” Cormier said on his ESPN show (via MMA Junkie). “He can’t get hit by Jan Blachowicz. Blachowicz hits so hard, bro. I have seen Błachowicz almost decapitate guys: Luke Rockhold, Dominick Reyes.
“The way that he was knocking guys out for a while was very scary.”
Of course, it should also be noted that Blachowicz is now 40 and hasn't knocked anyone out in brutal fashion since 2020 when he won the vacant title. Adesanya also faced Blachowicz in 2021 and didn't take major damage from the latter's “legendary Polish power.”
However, that's also because Blachowicz chose to remain patient in the striking before resorting to wrestling in the last two rounds on his way to a unanimous decision win.
It wouldn't surprise anyone at all if he employed the same game plan against Pereira, but prioritized wrestling throughout all three rounds.
Alex Pereira, however, should still fancy his chances if he is able to keep the fight standing.
Follow Us
Subscribe