Alex Pereira faces his biggest test so far, when he clashes against Sean Strickland at UFC 276 – what does his nickname Poatan, translate to in English?
Following the signing of Brazilian kickboxer Alex Pereira to the UFC, the narrative for a fight between him and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya seemed to be writing itself. The former number. 1 ranked kickboxer in the middleweight and light heavyweight division, Pereira’s style is the kryptonite to Adesanya’s unprecedented reign.
“Poatan” defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing, winning a 2016 decision in China, and landed a left hook for a vicious, memorable knockout in their rematch, the following year in Brazil. Currently, with just one fight old in the UFC, Adesanya has dismissed talks of the fight in the near future, labelling it as ‘ a bit premature’. Adesanya even said in the past that his loss came because he got too comfortable in the boxing range, and he is a much more transformed fighter.
Brazilian kickboxing phenom, Alex Pereira encountered Adesanya twice in the kickboxing terrain, and emerged victorious twice. Pereira’s first encounter with Adesanya came in April 2016 at Glory of Heroes 1. ‘Poatan’ outperformed Adesanya to earn a unanimous decision victory after three rounds.
A year later, the competitors met again – at Glory of Heroes 15. The rematch proved to be a more decisive win for Pereira. After some initial success inside the boxing range for Adesanya, the ‘Stylebender’ fearlessly stepped inside Pereira’s range continually. Pereria landed a perfectly calculated left-hook, as soon as Adesanya moved inside range after landing the left high-kick, that knocked him out cold.
Pereira’s nickname ‘Po Atan’ thus translates as ‘Stone Hand’ and is marked by a tattooed collection of rocks and pebbles on his left hand.
‘I can’t wait to drive through Alex Pereira’s face’- Israel Adesanya eyes a fight with former foe Alex Pereira after Jared Cannonier
Memories of those losses, especially the knockout still runs fresh in Adesanya’s mind, as he looks to exact retribution, this time inside the UFC octagon. ‘Stylebender’ has a mammoth task in hand when he faces Jared Cannonier at UFC 276, while Alex Pereira is set to face Sean Strickland on the same card. The two will in most likely cross paths for the first time in years, and Adesanya has sized the Brazilian as his next opponent should the two get past their individual fights.
Speaking to the media alongside his teammates Alexander Volkanovski and Kai Kara France, Adesanya said, ‘“This TikTok generation has 15-second memory, so they forget,” Adesanya said. “All they see is the knockout, but they didn’t watch the first fight or even watch the second fight before the finish. This is not kickboxing, this is mixed martial arts, and these ain’t big pillow gloves. These are four-ounce deadly weapons, and I can’t wait to drive that through his face after I go through Jared Cannonier.”
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