Daniel Cormier has expressed concern over Alex Pereira’s preparations for his upcoming light heavyweight title defense against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 on March 8 in Las Vegas.
Cormier’s worry stems from Pereira’s recent trip to Australia, where he was seen supporting and cornering Sean Strickland in his unsuccessful middleweight title fight at UFC 312. The former two-division champion and current UFC commentator believes this has distracted “Poatan” from his own training and could hinder his performance against Ankalaev.
“This dude was seen in Australia last week still, and he was shaking the hand of Drake as Drake went on stage for his concert,” Cormier said on Good Guy/Bad Guy with Chael Sonnen. “One, Drake constantly loses millions of dollars betting on people, so you kind of don’t want Drake to bet on you because he doesn’t have the greatest track record for winning. But what is Pereira still doing in Australia? He fights in two weeks! Ankalaev’s already here, he’s in Vegas, I ran into him at the UFC PI last week. He is honestly so locked in, ready to win this fight against Alex Pereira.”
Cormier also pointed out the potential impact of travel on the Brazilian’s fight readiness, emphasizing the difficulty of adjusting to multiple time zones so close to fight week.
“I got back from Australia, and all last week I’m up at 3 o’clock in the morning,” Cormier continued. “I don’t care that Pereira’s got weeks to get ready, he’s 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, then once he’s done in Connecticut to fly to Vegas the week of the fight, get adjusted to two more hours — 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)?”
Despite Ankalaev’s claim that he won’t rely on wrestling, Cormier warns Pereira that grappling should have been a central focus of his training camp.
“Glover’s the guy, honestly, that should be doing the most work with Alex right now because of the wrestling,” Cormier said. “Plinio is a great grappler. Plinio needs to be overseeing Glover just shooting on Pereira because I don’t care what Ankalaev says — he has to be smarter than to go out there and try to just stand with Pereira for 25 minutes. He has to know that he’s got to secure takedowns. Pereira better get home. He needs to get home and make sure he’s locked in because he does have the hardest fight of his title reign to this point.”
With UFC 313 fast approaching, Pereira’s late-stage preparation choices will soon be tested against Ankalaev, a dangerous challenger who is already locked in and training in Las Vegas.
