Alex Pereira sees Jan Blachowicz as a tougher test than Jiri Prochazka.
Pereira (8-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) made good in his light heavyweight debut when he edged out former champion Blachowicz at UFC 291. With the win, “Poatan” is expected to face Prochazka (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) for the vacant 205-pound title.
Pereira’s mentor and coach Glover Teixeira fought Prochazka in an all-out war at UFC 275. Teixeira ultimately was submitted late in Round 5, but was en route to winning before he got finished. Pereira helped Teixeira prep for that fight, so knows what to expect from Prochazka.
“I always analyze some things when I’m helping someone – in this case, helping Glover,” Pereira said in a translated interview with Laerte Viana. “So I’ve already studied him. But when he was going to fight Glover, it’s different now, the strategy. But I’ve seen some things there, and I’ll tell you, it’s a tough fight.”
Blachowicz (29-10-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) was able to take Pereira down and put him in a compromising position early in the fight – a strategy he was successfully able to employ when he handed middleweight champ Israel Adesanya his first-career loss.
But Pereira doesn’t see Prochazka going for a similar game plan, and for that reason, he sees himself having more success against him than he did Blachowicz.
“I think – and some people won’t agree – but I think Jan is a tougher fight because he has that grappling game, and it makes it a bit harder for me, makes my striking less effective,” Pereira said. “But I think it will be different with Jiri. I think he’ll come to fight on the feet.
“I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who will come to grapple. Everyone says that everyone who fights me will want to take me down. He might do that, but I’m not believing it yet. He’s a guy who will expose himself more, and I think it will be a dangerous fight. But I believe the matchup is better for me than against Jan.”
