Former middleweight champion Alex Pereira performed incredibly well defending his light-heavyweight title at UFC 307. However, reigning middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis‘ coach observed certain shortcomings in Pereira’s game. The coach believed his South African champion could exploit the Brazilian. Here is what happened:
Dricus du Plessis’ coach, Morne Visser, recently sat down to have a conversation with Submission Radio. During their discussion, the South African coach highlighted several flaws in Alex Pereira‘s fighting style. He especially commented on what they would do in a potential showdown if Du Plessis and ‘Poatan’ met in the future.
In his standup game there’s a lot of flaws. I’ve seen him. He hates going backwards. He hates it. He hates it when you give him punishment. He hates it when you’re in control of the fight and that’s the way Dricus fights.
Morne Visser via Submission Radio
This makes Visser confident that his fighter would exploit Pereira’s weaknesses. Visser also pointed out that Pereira’s grappling and wrestling still need significant improvement. The coach believes that becoming proficient in wrestling and grappling takes much longer than a few months or a year. He believes that ‘Poatan’ cannot fix these flaws anytime soon.
Dricus’ Coach Morne Visser sees flaws in Alex Pereira’s striking and says him and @dricusduplessis would look to capitalize on them in a fight at 205! 👊
“We want to fight him where he’s good at…There’s a lot of flaws…I’ve seen him looking very, very shit on his back foot.”… pic.twitter.com/89OnfX67JI
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) October 7, 2024
Ahead of UFC 307, Pereira hinted at moving back down to middleweight. He called out DDP to put the middleweight belt on the line. However, this will not happen anytime soon. Sparring partner Sean Strickland wants to avenge his loss against DDP. As such, Pereira revealed that he wants Strickland to chase the middleweight title next. Meanwhile, ‘Poatan’ will rest up and work on improving.
What are some of Alex Pereira’s alleged ‘weaknesses’?
Several fighters and MMA personalities have discussed Alex Pereira’s weaknesses ever since his meteoric rise in the promotion. Artem Vakhitov, the last man to beat Pereira in kickboxing, highlighted that Pereira’s defense is a major weakness. Vakhitov emphasized that Pereira is “all attack” and leaves himself open to counters from skilled strikers.
In addition to Vakhitov, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill commented on Pereira’s potential struggles against southpaw fighters. Before UFC 307, Hill stated that southpaws like Khalil Rountree Jr. could expose Pereira’s weaknesses. It was visible that Poatan could not impose his will and needed to use crisp boxing and head movements to get the win.
Artem Vakhitov recently criticized his former kickboxing opponent Alex Pereira’s striking:
“Alex’s biggest weakness is that he is all attack and he has no defense. Because of his lack of defense, he is open to taking a lot of punches to the head if he’s facing a skilled… pic.twitter.com/FlDfRiQY8R
— MMA UNCENSORED (@MMAUNCENSORED1) July 8, 2024
Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen also highlighted Pereira’s lack of experience in grappling as a key weakness. While Pereira’s striking is elite, Sonnen believes his ground game remains relatively underdeveloped. Wrestlers or grapplers could exploit this in future matchups. Only time will tell who stops Poatan’s title reign and how.
