<\/p>\n
Oct 5, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Alex Pereira (red gloves) reacts after defeating Khalil Rountree Jr. (not pictured) in a light heavyweight title bout during UFC 307 at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images \/ Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the fight that needs to happen,\u201d Cormier said on Good Guy\/Bad Guy<\/a>. \u201cPereira deserves the chance to try to right that wrong.<\/p>\n Cormier says if he can keep defending takedowns while being the faster fighter, anything is possible.<\/p>\n \u201cAlex wrestled much better than we expected him to [at UFC 313]. He defended takedowns much better than we expected him to,” Cormier said. “Now it\u2019s up to them, Plinio [Cruz] and Glover [Teixeira]\u2026to make it to where Alex can actually go get it done and not get pressed up against the Octagon.”<\/p>\n Mar 8, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Magomed Ankalaev (blue gloves) reacts after the fight with Alex Pereira (not pictured) during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images \/ Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Cormier added Pereira can’t go into the fight thinking he’ll get an easy layup victory, either.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he needs to get some respect from him very early, Chael, to make Ankalaev take a few steps back,” Cormier said. “How does Pereira get that respect early, to make sure that this fight doesn\u2019t play out exactly like the last one did?\u201d<\/p>\n Pereira’s loss to Ankalaev was his first in over a year, having been knocked out in his second fight against then-Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 in April 2023.<\/p>\n The fight serves as one-half of an October main event title spree, as Tom Aspinall defends his heavyweight title 21 days later against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Undefeated MMA champion dominates UFC veteran, gets belt from Islam Makhachev<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Referee sprints to save unconscious MMA fighter after savage KO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Ilia Topuria hopes UFC gives him Conor McGregor treatment after Canelo-Crawford fight<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Israel Adesanya gives bold pick for Islam Makhachev vs. Jack Della Maddalena<\/a><\/p>\n Stick with\u00a0MMAKnockout<\/a>\u00a0for more FREE coverage of the UFC and MMA.<\/p>\n Follow MMAKnockout on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n