Present at training sessions Michael Pereira many years ago, Joelson Guerra, coach of 'Demolidor', opened up and talked about his pupil's next challenge, which takes place in UFC Kansas City this Saturday (26). A great connoisseur of MMA, the coach avoided underestimating the skills of Abus Magomedov, but assured that he was ready to face his rival.
In an exclusive interview to SUPER FIGHTS, Joelson, in addition to talking about Abus, also addressed topics such as the drama experienced in the last defeat, problems behind the scenes to face anthony hernandez and revamped his career to return to the path of victory.
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“It didn’t surprise me (Abus as an opponent). Today I’m in the MMA world and I know all the athletes. When Michel was also in the 77kg category, I also tried to get to know all the fighters in the category. Now, in the middleweight division, it’s also our obligation to get to know all the fighters in the rankings and outside the rankings who are also dangerous fighters. Abus is a very dangerous fighter, he’s fought with Brazilians and with a guy that Michel trains a lot with at Xtreme Couture, who is Abus. Sean Strickland"
“I know a lot about his game, it won’t be much different from Michel and other athletes, you can be sure. Abus is a complete athlete, very dangerous, very good at striking, he also has very good wrestling, he is very dangerous in the first round, but he has a lot of flaws, a lot of openings. For the athlete that Michel is, he has a lot of flaws. He can be dangerous, but Michel is a much more prepared, complete athlete. In this fight we will be more complete because we have made mistakes in the past that we cannot make in the future.”
Career change
The confidence to triumph in UFC Kansas City This is not only due to the marriage of styles, but also to improvements made after his last defeat. With nutritional support, Michel made improvements to his diet that will have an effect in the octagon.
“I guarantee that we are very well prepared, we had a camp with a very good strategy, with several professionals. We hired a very cool nutritionist who is the one from Charles of the Bronx, from Durinho. I tell everyone that there will never be an easy opponent, we don't train for a specific athlete, we train for several athletes and Michel trains for all arts, to be prepared for any fight”
Post defeat Anthony Hernandez
Despite the loss of opportunity to achieve a ninth consecutive victory, master Guerra made a point of highlighting the positive side of the setback suffered by his pupil.
“We are coming off a defeat. We were coming off eight consecutive victories, no one remembers that. People don’t know what goes on behind the scenes (…) what matters is the work we are focused on. There have been changes, including in the diet. Michel’s weight is very good. This defeat will not bring us down or leave us unmotivated, on the contrary, the defeat came to make us more mature, research, learn and not make mistakes anymore. Always seek to learn so we don’t make mistakes. We learn from mistakes, listen and ask for opinions”
Drama experienced in the fight against Hernandez
Experienced in the world of MMA, Joelson reinforced the importance of secrecy regarding what happens in preparations before the fight. When commenting on problems suffered by Pereira, the coach revealed great drama experienced months and days before the last appearance.
“We didn’t have much to do, we already do what needs to be done. During the month of the fight we had several problems. Michel hit his rib, which are things we can’t talk about. Michel had a cut that reopened on the day of the fight. During the week of the fight, on the day of the weigh-in, we ate food that Michel wasn’t supposed to eat, so since his body was weak, he ate pasta that had a lot of oil and got an intestinal infection.”
“We went to the doctor, rehydrated him, but his body couldn’t absorb the nutrients because he was having a lot of bowel movements and he started losing minerals, potassium, nutrients, and on the day of the fight, the guy didn’t recover well, he fought with a broken rib and all this happened. For three weeks, we only did specific training and losing weight, because we couldn’t do sparring because of the cut and we didn’t want the fight to be canceled.
Michael Pereira at the official UFC weigh-in. Photo: Reproduction/X
Confidence for possible rematch
In addition to declaring interest in challenging Hernandez in case of victory, Joelson believes that his rival is not capable of withstanding the skills of 'Daredevil' if the Brazilian is 100% on the day of the fight.
“Michel has tremendous quality and anthony hernandez doesn't beat Michel. We had that surprise, yes. But I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to fight Anthony again and we'll show him that we're capable, that he's not all that.”
“At that moment when the explosion happened, that was when he felt air. Marinho and I said: 'Fuck, he felt his rib'. When your rib is hit, you can't breathe because it stops you from breathing, when he stepped back, 'Fuck'. And then he started to decline and decline. But he proved that he's a man enough to fight five rounds, he's a man enough to take a beating. The guy always wins with performance bonuses, fight of the night, knockouts, submissions. We ended up losing, but if Michel is 100%, as he always is prepared to fight, we were going to play Hernandez, because he wouldn't be able to handle Michel's pressure.”
Michael Pereira celebrates victory in UFC 301. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
Pirouettes in fights
Known for applying a variety of blows in confrontations, Michel has the support of his team to continue putting on a show in front of his opponents, but always being careful to conserve energy and not wear himself out in vain.
“We are calm, but everything he does is trained. Because if he does it randomly, he will spend a lot of time, he will burn muscle and he will get tired. But for him to do all the stunts, everything is trained, we spend hours running on the fence, running on the fence and doing the kick on the wall, the one that goes against the wall and does the Superman, everything is trained, we spend hours repeating that. But because Michel has changed categories, he can no longer do movements that are not feasible for him. Since he is very big and strong, this demands a lot from his body. We have already told him not to do much more, but if at the time it is possible to do it, he will do it, for sure. Doing the mule kick, the fire eater, the illusion of death.”
Michael Pereira was highlighted in UFC 301. Photo: Reproduction/X @UFC
Perfect ending
Confident, Guerra doesn't believe in anything other than a great performance from Michel, currently ranked 14th in the middleweight rankings.
“Michel will knock out the opponent. It’s something he knows how to do very well, at the right time, and he will be very calm to knock out the opponent. If he also goes to the ground, you can be sure that Michel is prepared for the ground and will finish.”
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