In just eight UFC fights, Alex Pereira has won titles across two divisions and defeated five former champions along the way. He’s done it all primarily as a devastating striker, displaying incredible knockout power but still showing some deficiencies expected of a lifelong kickboxer with only 12 total MMA fights on his résumé.
Pereira is fresh off of headlining one of the biggest cards in history at UFC 300, and he capped off the night with a brutal knockout of Jamahal Hill. Assessing that performance, analyst and fighter Anthony Smith gives Pereira credit for getting the job done in impressive fashion, but stands by the criticism he’s levied against Pereira from the first day he arrived in the UFC. Criticism that might rub the Brazilian star the wrong way.
“I stand by everything I’ve said,” Smith told MMA Fighting. “[Daniel Cormier] says it all the time. How is this guy still winning fights? Yeah, I ask the same thing. Because it doesn’t make any sense! He has a very limited skill set. He’s very, very, very dangerous at one thing and he’s mediocre at the rest.
“Instead of making it seem like I’m talking shit about him, I’m building him up. That’s amazing! That’s absolutely amazing that he’s able to do what he’s been able to do at this level for this amount of time. It’s impressive. I’m not talking shit about it. It’s impressive.”
Anthony Smith stands by Alex Pereira criticism but promises he’s not just ‘talking sh*t’ about him - MMA Fighting
