Who were the “unfavorable” matches for Alex?

[Joinho10]

Pretty much his whole UFC career. The guy has yet to face a fighter with decent wrestling that actually uses his wrestling. His #1 contender fight was against Sean Strickland lol talk about being tailor-made for him to win.

Vettori Hermansson Khamzat and Brunson are all fighters I would have loved to see him face off against.

 

[Hdfi]

Top 10 mddleweights with wrestling:

Whittaker
Vettori
Hermansson
Brunson
Allen
Potentially Costa

Theres no question that the UFC handpicked Strickland as the most favorable opponent to get Pereira into the top 5. Without the Izzy rivalry he would have been thoroughly tested before getting a title shot.

Strickland is one of the few top 5 fighters that would accept to fight an unranked opponent (Alex was unranked at the time). Good luck trying to convince Whittaker, Vettori, etc. to fight an unranked opponent...

 

[blaseblase]

Strickland is one of the few top 5 fighters that would accept to fight an unranked opponent (Alex was unranked at the time). Good luck trying to convince Whittaker, Vettori, etc. to fight an unranked opponent...

He had name value though. A guy like Brunson would have taken that fight.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Izzy outwrestled Alex so no. Pereira isn't Izzy and simply hasn't faced the same level of wrestlers.

The reality is that he did receive favorable matchmaking to get to the title picture. It was blatantly obvious. They rushed him and fed him Strickland solely because of the Izzy rivalry. Doesn't take away what he did against Izzy and at LHW but it still happened.

Izzy hit a TD in the third and controlled that round with grappling and landed some gn’p, but he was 1/4 for takedowns overall. This is also after AP was almost finished in the first. Alex also landed a TD in that fight. To say Izzy “outwrestled” Alex isn’t exactly telling the whole story. Izzy had more control time, but couldn’t leverage that into a victory. And you’re conveniently ignoring that Jan dominated Izzy with grappling, yet couldn’t replicate that success with AP.

 

[blaseblase]

Izzy hit a TD in the third and controlled that round with grappling and landed some gn’p, but he was 1/4 for takedowns overall. This is also after AP was almost finished in the first. Alex also landed a TD in that fight. To say Izzy “outwrestled” Alex isn’t exactly telling the whole story. Izzy had more control time, but couldn’t leverage that into a victory. And you’re conveniently ignoring that Jan dominated Izzy with grappling, yet couldn’t replicate that success with AP.

Jan didn't dominate Izzy with grappling. He had Pereira in way more trouble than he ever had Izzy. He almost ended it with a rear naked choke. He beat Izzy with his striking and landed a couple takedowns to seal the rounds.

And again, Pereira didn't face any of those fighters. You don't know how they would have gone. You asked for unfavorable matchups and you got them. There's no denying Strickland was the most favorable opponent.

 

[filthybliss]

I think this favorable matchup thing is silly. Its not Alex's fault that the top contenders happen to all be strikers.

 

[andgonsil]

Jailton

 

[PaddyO'malley]

Only real test for Poatan was Jamahill fam but mans passed dat test even though there’s always gonna be an asterisk cuz of Herb Dean mans prolly get KO’d next round set up a trilogy styll Poatan legit tho fam h8rs just busy wastin’ time throwin’ shade in the UFC/PowerSlap discussion board Plus bro's PowerKube score? Pure madness insanity fr fr I'm inda studio rn making a track aboot his score no cap

 

[Hdfi]

He had name value though. A guy like Brunson would have taken that fight.

Brunson wasn't a top 5 and Pereira wouldn't get a title shot without a top 5 win.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

To say that Alex received favorable matchmaking implies that there were unfavorable matches he was protected from. At MW specifically, who were they? Khamzat is really the only name I can think of, but given his alleged visa issues, injuries, Covid, Ramadan, etc. it can be hard getting him lined up for a fight.

Who else has the dominant grappling to expose Alex’s supposed deficiency on the ground? I believe his TDD and sub defense are better than he gets credit for, in addition to being massive for the weight class.

I think Alex was expedited more-so than he was protected. It could have been Marvin, Cannonier, Costa, or Hermannsen instead of Strickland, and I’m picking AP to beat any one of them.

Vettori was the only matchup that looks bad for him in the top 10. Izzy had already fought and beaten pretty much everyone in the top 10 other than Strickland and Alex. So the UFC wasn't going to put Alex against Vettori and eliminate one of the only new matchups is he could get.

The people claiming that Alex had an easy way to the top don't think about these things though.

 

[blaseblase]

Brunson wasn't a top 5 and Pereira wouldn't get a title shot without a top 5 win.

I just checked and Brunson was actually in the top 5 at the time.



They took an unranked fighter and skipped him over a lot of guys with wrestling to get to Strickland.

 

[PEDRO IVO RUSSO MIRANDA]

Oh C'mon guys. Everybody knows Alex got fast tracked. But he deserved it in some way.
I think he have 34 when UFC hired him (very close to end his prime), the guy is the only double champ in glory history that defended both belts simultaneously.
The fact that Izzy was wooping MW division so bad to a point that the division was becoming boring, suddenly we found that guy with a lot of accomplishments and with 2 wins over the current champion ? Its obvious that everyone want to watch it.

Alex 1st opponent was a full grapller guy, Bruno Silva has some kind of wrestling too, and tbh, Alex was trying to figth any ranked guy at that time, I remember him asking for cannonier atm.
And Strickland was the only one with balls to take that AP figth, and poatan was a big underdog with +300.
If brunson, vettori, or hermanson have accepted to figth, I bet Alex would take anyone. And tbh, Brunson probably could have a very good 1st round, just to get knocked out cold in the modlle of 2nd round when the first left hook hits his glass chin.

Vettori is a very tough match up to Alex tbh, the guy has solid wrestling and the best chin in UFC history, Alex doesn't have the same movement that adesanya possess, so I think that's probably one of the worsts match ups for him in MW.

Whittaker could probably be one of the hardest ones to him, but he's involved in another.matches that time. He moves a lot and have that solid wrestling, but I can see Alex putting him Down with 1 clean shot.

Strickland was really the only "leapfrog" UFC gave him, and due to MW circumstances at that time, his shot was legit.
I think he pretty much deserved his shot at LHW too due to 2 champions vacating, and he beating Jan.

 

[blaseblase]

Vettori was the only matchup that looks bad for him in the top 10. Izzy had already fought and beaten pretty much everyone in the top 10 other than Strickland and Alex. So the UFC wasn't going to put Alex against Vettori and eliminate one of the only new matchups is he could get.

The people claiming that Alex had an easy way to the top don't think about these things though.

He had 2 UFC fights against unranked fighters then got pushed into a fight with Strickland. That's the definition of an easy way to the top. Its stupid to deny it.

 

[MawrSeneca]

Jan. They could've given Poatan someone lower ranked with less wrestling like Walker or Oezdemir in July, held up the LHW title and then given him a Jiri title fight in November. I think most people thought he'd lose to Jan, just like Izzy did.

Izzy picked Alex to beat Jan. Said if Jan could implement his grappling he could win (obviously Jan was 40 + fighting at elevation which significantly drained gassed him from using a heavy wrestling gameplan. Don't understand why this narrative of "Izzy always picks against Pereira" persists when Adesanya predicted him to have success in his LHW debut. lmao

Pereira has been given favorable matchups in both MW and LHW. UFC could have easily given him to Cannonier, Whittaker, Vettori for a contender elimination matchup but gave him the striker Strickland who had not fought anyone in the Top 5 at the time. In LHW Jan and Ank were both in a title fight where Ank was the one who looked the most impressive and was assumed the winner by both media and fans. But instead of giving Pereira to Ank the UFC gave Alex a debug title eliminator fight against Jan who was way older and at elevation (Salt Lake City). And then following the SD win the UFC put Alex in an immediate title fight against Jiri who was coming off an injury. Then they gave Pereira Hill who was also coming off an injury. Now the promotion is setting up Hill vs Rountree (shorter striker) with the intention of bypassing Ankalaev yet again. Had this been anyone else the MMA community would be up in arms of this preferential treatment and lack of willingness to give Pereira grapplers. Compare Pereira's first 3 opponents to Blood Diamonds. MW and above have been devoid of actual grappling threats so Pereira is fortunate. But we all know why Dana won't allow Pereira to fight Aspinall.

 

[AmonTobin]

Back when he was at MW I was very curious about Pereira-Whittaker & Pereira-Vettori. I thought Pereira passed some big grappling tests vs Jan Blachowicz. I became a true believer after the Jan fight. I know it was at higher elevation, and I know Jan isn't some super wrestler, but Pereira proved he's good enough to get through dangerous grappling situations. He's certainly no Ciryl Can.

 

[blaseblase]

Back when he was at MW I was very curious about Pereira-Whittaker & Pereira-Vettori. I thought Pereira passed some big grappling tests vs Jan Blachowicz. I became a true believer after the Jan fight. I know it was at higher elevation, and I know Jan isn't some super wrestler, but Pereira proved he's good enough to get through dangerous grappling situations. He's certainly no Ciryl Can.

He definitely proved his grappling is good enough to not get submitted. Though I think Jan probably wins if the fight wasn't at elevation.

 

[AmonTobin]

He definitely proved his grappling is good enough to not get submitted. Though I think Jan probably wins if the fight wasn't at elevation.

Ya entirely possible. It did look like Jan was going to choke him out in the first round at one point. Pereira pulling off a submission from his back like Anderson-Chael might be what he needs to silence all critics for all time. Lol

 

[bambammccoy]

Khamzat was competing at WW at the time, so no they didn't duck each other.

Khamzat called Periera out for a fight in 21 days after Alex had received a 30 days medical suspension.

It was just for clout

 

[World eater]

I picked both Jan and Jiri to beat him. I thought they would just take him down and gnp him into oblivion. I was quite surprised how well he handled it. Ankalaev is pretty much the last test at this point if we ignore HW.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Jan didn't dominate Izzy with grappling. He had Pereira in way more trouble than he ever had Izzy. He almost ended it with a rear naked choke. He beat Izzy with his striking and landed a couple takedowns to seal the rounds.

And again, Pereira didn't face any of those fighters. You don't know how they would have gone. You asked for unfavorable matchups and you got them. There's no denying Strickland was the most favorable opponent.

That rnc wasn’t even close. Just “oooohs” from the crowd and Rogan doing what Rogan does; jizzing over every low kick and telling us that everything is tight. There were two attempts in the first, and they never got under the chin. AP defended well and broke the grip quickly, several times. AP’s guillotine attempt in the first actually looked more threatening. Jan gassed himself out trying to grapple with Alex after only a round and a half. Shot a panic takedown at the end of the second. Mind you, this was only a three round fight. I’ll also point out that Jan’s strategy vs AP was to grapple. He shot a TD immediately in the first. Whereas with Izzy, he was safe on the feet as you mentioned, and didn’t really press the grappling until the 4th round. Nonetheless, when he did, he was effective. He actually landed gn’p on Izzy. Not so much with Alex.

I’ll agree to disagree. I just don’t believe that Izzy is a better counter grappler than AP. At worst, they’re about the same imo.