WATCH | Alex Pereira outwrestles Daniel Cormier at UFC 301 media day

By Josh Evanoff - May 1, 2024

It appears that UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has better wrestling than Daniel Cormier believed.

Daniel Cormier, Alex Pereira

‘Poatan’ is fresh off his return to the cage in the main event of UFC 300 last month. In the headliner of the historic event, Alex Pereria faced former champion Jamahal Hill. Ultimately, it took the Brazilian less than a round to knock out ‘Sweet Dreams’. However, Hill later stated that Herb Dean’s refereeing played a role in the defeat.

Following UFC 300, Daniel Cormier famously made some comments about the Brazilian. Speaking on his podcast with Chael Sonnen, ‘DC’ admitted that he was shocked about Alex Pereira’s success in MMA. The former collegiate wrestler opined that the kickboxer lacks a lot of wrestling. He stated:

“I’m sitting there at night going, ‘How’s he doing this when, with all due respect because Alex and I have a great relationship, he can’t wrestle. He does not know how to wrestle. When they grab his leg, he kind of just falls down. He can’t wrestle. When he can’t wrestle, I’m like, ‘How is this happening when he can’t wrestle?’ But he has got this singular skillset that is so good that it does not matter what he can’t do.”

RELATED: JOSE ALDO TURNED DOWN MILLION-DOLLAR PAYDAY TO MAKE RETURN AT UFC 301: “WE HAD A LOT OF OFFERS”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Canal Encarada (@canal_encarada)

Alex Pereira wrestles with Daniel Cormier at UFC 301 media day

Well, it seems that Alex Pereira must’ve caught wind of Daniel Cormier’s comments. Earlier today, Canal Encarda released footage of the two stars backstage. Pereira went up to the UFC commentator and began wrestling with him. Surprisingly, the light-heavyweight scored a takedown on Cormier before being separated by security.

The impromptu wrestling match was all in good fun between the two fighters. For Alex Pereira, he hoped to compete against more than Daniel Cormier this weekend. After his victory over Jamahal Hill last month, the light-heavyweight called for the chance to compete at UFC 301. Pereira even offered to move to heavyweight to find an opponent on short notice.

Despite that offer, and Jiri Prochazka offering to fight Alex Pereira, the champion was never added to the card. Instead, it will be Alexandre Pantoja defending his flyweight gold against Steve Erceg in the main event of UFC 301. In the co-main, the great Jose Aldo will return to face the fast-rising contender, Jonathan Martinez.

What do you make of this video coming out of UFC 301 media day? Who do you think had the edge in the wrestling match? Daniel Cormier or Alex Pereira?