In light of their continuing dispute, Alex Pereira has made yet another dig at Khamzat Chimaev. Pereira is an indigenous wrestler from the Pataxó tribe of Brazil. He posted an Instagram video of himself wrestling with another native.
In reference to the wrestling match, Alex Pereira referenced Chimaev in the caption.
Pereira wrote: “Chimaev trying to take me down.”
Khamzat Chimaev retaliated against the kickboxer by challenging Pereira’s degree of grappling ability: “This is your level.”
Pereira delivered a powerful combination to secure the victory by knockout at UFC 281. He had just four bouts under his belt when he became the middleweight champion having spent just over a year in UFC.
Brendan Schaub covered the development on his ailing network and dismissed the new champion harshly.
“I’m not taking anything away from Alex, but again, I don’t think he beats a single guy in the top five. Robert Whittaker’s.. after he saw Izzie and Alex’s grappling and the wrestling. You know, I’m sure every guy in the top five is like, Dear God, please give me that guy.”
“Now, if the UFC actually want Khamzat to be that big of superstar at 170 and 185. (Alex’s) next fight is going to be Khazmat vs Alex Pereira. Khamzat beats the s*it out of him. He mops the floor him. You know, again, I’m not taking it away from Alex. It’s just all about matchups and styles, and that’s a complete nightmare for him.”
Pereira took offense to these comments – which were reportedly sent to him by fans. He reiterated by challenging:
“He said he’s running his mouth, fifty-thousand dollars if he beats Chimaev. That fifty-thousand from both sides we’ll donate to kids in need. Also, fifty more that he doesn’t take [Pereira] down in 30 seconds. We’ll double those fifty to put it toward charity.”
Daniel Cormier views Khamzat Chimaev as a bad matchup for Alex Pereira. The current opinion is that middleweight champion Alex Pereira will immediately challenge Israel Adesanya for his championship. Meanwhile, the UFC is trying to schedule a welterweight title match between Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington.
Daniel Cormier recently predicted Chimaev to prevail in a matchup against Pereira. Cormier said on the DC & RC program on ESPN MMA:
“If you schedule him and Khamzat right now… Khamzat would be a massive favorite to beat Alex Pereira. Just because of the style. The style just does not match up yet and Pereira, he’s so young in his career.”