M. Pereira performs somersault at UFC weigh-in. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @michelpereiraufc
The Brazilian Michael Pereira, known as ‘Paraense Voador’ ended up having a controversial night in UFC Vancouver, held last Saturday (14), in Canada. In a duel against Tristan connelly, the fighter was unable to impose his rhythm and ended up defeated by the judges' decision. In response to a recent post on UFC Brazil's official Instagram, which showed an image of Michel performing a backflip, the athlete tried to justify himself to his fans and stated that he will come back stronger for the next challenge.
See too
“I'll be back, guys. Many bad things happened. I lost a lot of weight. It was 17,5kg. I spent a week losing weight on my own. Too many things happened to go wrong. I will correct my mistake. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not one to get very tired, but I wore myself out a lot lowering the weight and that hurt me in the fight. I will be back”, wrote the fighter.
One of the reasons that most intrigued fans was the fact that the athlete was defeated by an opponent who accepted the fight five days in advance. Connelly is a lightweight (up to 70,3kg) by birth and accepted the challenge of facing the Brazilian at welterweight. When they were placed face to face for the first time, at the ceremonial weigh-in, the difference in size was visible.
In the octagon, when the fight was authorized, Michel's ability to execute plastic movements was impressive with each juggling act, but, after being cornered in the initial seconds, Tristan began to slowly loosen up and ended up taking advantage of the Pará native's lack of energy, which began to show a lack of gas.
In his second appearance for Ultimate, Pereira also failed to cut weight, which could directly influence the athlete's performance for the fight, when he has less than 24 hours to recover from dehydration.
On his Instagram account, Pereira also tried to justify himself to his fans. The athlete stated that there were problems with the visa of one of his coaches and that he had to make the weight cut practically alone. The man from Pará also asked for more support and less criticism from MMA enthusiasts.
“I got tired, it wasn't because of the things I did, but because of the huge weight cut. I got 17,5 on my own. Just stressing about my ‘corner’ (coach) visa, who didn’t come to help me. Everyone had someone to help, and I had no one at all. It's not an excuse, but I'm a fighter who grows as the rounds go by and, because I spent a lot of effort to make weight, my body gave 'PT' (total loss) at the beginning of the second round”, wrote the fighter .
Michel, when hired, stated that he intends to bring a new type of entertainment to UFC fans. In his debut, the athlete managed, in fact, to fulfill part of his promise, but disappointed in his second performance. Fans, however, are waiting to see the Brazilian in action again.
The setback marked the 10th defeat in the career of the young athlete, who is just 25 years old. His record has 23 triumphs.
M. Pereira responds to the UFC_Brasil publication. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @ufc_brasil
See Michel's post
View this photo on Instagram
@ufc @ufc_brasil @canalcombate @danawhite @spiderandersonsilva
Comments