At UFC Vegas 55, Michel Pereira defeated fellow welterweight, Santiago Ponzinibbio, securing an amazing victory. Following three rounds of intense competition, the Brazilian emerged triumphant through a split decision. The judges’ scorecards read 28-29, 30-27, and 29-28. The fight scored bonuses for both Pereira and Ponzinibbio – it was recognized as the “Fight of the Night.”
Following the fight, Pereira issued a challenge to two of the most prominent fighters in the welterweight category, namely Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. In his Octagon interview, Pereira said:
“Now I need [someone from the] top 15, top 10… Hey Nate, I’m ready! Hey Jorge Masvidal, come my friend!”
During the media scrum that followed the match, Pereira disclosed an amusing reason for wanting to duke it out with ‘Gamebred.’
According to the Brazilian, Masvidal sent an emoji of a praying hands gesture to Pereira’s wife, but he did not send one to him. ‘Demolidor’ wants to know what this means, and he plans to find out in the octagon.
Jorge Masvidal previously said he doesn’t maintain his own social media but it’s unclear. The infamous praying hands emoji also has a double meaning – it’s actually conceptualized as a high five even though nobody really uses it as that. Masvidal has spent a long time at ATT – along with Ponzinibbio – Pereira’s opponent so that might explain the power play.
Michel Pereira also revealed he cut more than 40lbs (18kg) in order to make the welterweight limit.
Brett Okamoto, an MMA writer for ESPN, said that Pereira seemed to be rather imposing inside the octagon. He questioned the Brazilian about it, and Pereira revealed that he weighed 211 pounds when he first started his training camp for the bout.