Despite his serious facade, Alex Pereira is a man with humor. This can be seen in his online antics. The light heavyweight champion has agreed to step in on short notice to fight at UFC 303. Still in Australia, ‘Poatan’ made a witty reference to Alexander Volkanovski that only the dire MMA fans will get.
Alex Pereira is documenting his time in Australia online. A recent clip showed the light heavyweight champion speeding the streets of the continent in a McLaren. What was interesting was the choice of the song ‘Poatan’ played on his joy ride. It was the same song former champion Alexander Volkanovksi walked out to on his short notice fight against Islam Makhachev.
Alexander Volkanovski was the UFC featherweight champion until he lost his title at UFC 298. He often used “Down Under” by Men at Work as his walkout theme song. Released in 1981, it is an iconic Australian rock song that has become an anthem for Australians worldwide. As such, ‘Poatan’ directly or indirectly referenced Volkanovski as an inspiration to take the fight on short notice.
Alex Pereira driving a McLaren through the streets of Australia whilst listening to Alexander Volkanovski’s famous “Down Under” walkout song 🇦🇺🎶 #UFC303 pic.twitter.com/MsmisXLNa5
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) June 15, 2024
Initially, UFC 303 featured a highly anticipated showdown between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler. However, with McGregor’s injury, Alex Pereira stepped in to fight Jiri Prochazka on short notice. It will be a rematch of their fight at UFC 295. There is a huge risk in accepting a short-notice title defense. As such, a UFC Hall of Famer believes the risk will turn into a massive reward if ‘Poatan’ wins at UFC 303.
Alex Pereira may reach superstar status with UFC 303 win
UFC Hall of Famer and former two-division champion Daniel Cormier has reacted to Alex Pereira stepping in for UFC 303. DC said something interesting about ‘Poatan’ accepting the fight on short notice. He said that if Pereira managed to secure a win, he would become a huge superstar in the UFC.
Daniel Cormier talks about Alex Pereira fighting at UFC 303 (Image via Imago)The former UFC champion made these comments on his official YouTube channel. He talked about the superstardom that fighters like Jon Jones and Conor McGregor enjoy. DC said Pereira could reach that stardom by taking big risks and potentially emerging victorious.
I believe if Alex Pereira goes out takes this fight, wins, beats Jiri Prochazka he will become a superstar… If he can do what he did last time, so many more people are aware of him, he could go to the moon.
Daniel Cormier via his official YT channel
Cormier argued that ‘Poatan’ has already headlined two massive PPV cards since losing the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287. One of them was the ‘biggest marketed’ fight in UFC history. Here, DC talked about UFC 300, where Pereira took out Jamahal Hill in the first round. As such, replacing Conor McGregor and winning at the same time would do wonders for the Brazilian knockout artist.
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