In a recent outburst, UFC welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley has criticized Alex Pereira’s rapid rise to success in the UFC. Pereira, the reigning UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion, has achieved this feat in just 10 professional fights, a feat that Buckley believes is making the sport look “stupid and reta*ded.”
Pereira’s journey to the top has been nothing short of remarkable. The Brazilian, who hails from a favela and previously worked as a local laborer, has headlined prestigious events like the Madison Square Garden and T-Mobile Arena, generating significant live gate revenue for the promotion.
However, Buckley believes that Pereira’s success, despite his non-MMA origins, is problematic for the sport. “No disrespect to Alex Pereira because I’m a fan of that motherfu*ker right now, that sh*t is crazy what he’s doing, but it’s still like…how is he able to do that? …It makes [MMA] look st*pid and reta*ded…You’ve got guys now from different professions that are like ‘Ah yeah I can do that sh*t’ and become the UFC champion too, it shouldn’t be like that,” Buckley said in an exclusive interview.
Buckley’s criticism stems from the notion that Pereira, who transitioned from a successful kickboxing career, has been able to outperform fighters who have dedicated their entire careers to MMA. “When you have someone that has solely trained MMA in itself and his whole goal as he got started in combat was to be a UFC fighter but then you’ve got another guy who’s coming over transitioning from a different sport still able to beat you, that’s a problem,” Buckley added.
Pereira’s dominance has not gone unnoticed, with several MMA personalities, including Michael Bisping, Anthony Smith, Jamahal Hill, Chael Sonnen, and Kamaru Usman, expressing doubts about his ground game. However, Buckley’s criticism appears to be the first to focus on Pereira’s non-MMA background as the primary issue.
