Media Alex Pereira Fires @ DDP: "He's Just TOO SMALL"

[Th3Sav4ge]

DDP should think better of this. Alex is absolutely the worst matchup for him.

why? i see it as a bad match up for alex. someone whos going to press into him with way better cardio, someone who has power but isnt a dip shit and will show up with a full mma arsenal of striking and grappling.

i think ddp wears alex out and finishes him. unless alex clinch game got way better i gotta lean ddp.

 

[Squarechoke]

Given that DDP is a fairly big MW the only conclusion one can draw from that comment is that Pereira fought at MW becuase he wanted to fight people that are too small for him. Ergo not the brightest choice of comment.

Pereira being the more accurate and powerful striker is a bigger deal here.

 

[PeterGriffin]

Pereira has his own game plan going on, and it doesn't involve DDP. If DDP really wants to fight Alex, he knows where to go. I don't think it's a good idea, but some people have to learn the hard way.

Every fight starts on the feet, and we'd find out in a hurry if DDP has a chin or not. The extent of Pereira's grappling ability is still an unknown, but DDP going into a fight against Alex...

- As the smaller man
- As the lesser striker between the two
- Is not a highly regarded wrestler or grappler (he's good, not amazing)
- Whose likely path to victory is to grind and fight heavy against a guy with strong leg kicks and legitimate KO power until the final bell

Not a great idea, in my opinion. I think DDP has the cardio to go 25 against Alex, and I think he's physically strong enough to impose his will. Which works fine against MW's, but Alex is fully settled in at 205lbs now and his timing and fight IQ is pretty slick. Counting on your chin to carry you to victory if you can't implement your game plan is not a wise choice.

I think DDP should stay in his lane, at least until the work is done at MW. Alex will be gone by then. DDP's a lot like Merab, you know exactly how he's going to fight, but it's just difficult to stop.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Till and Brunson?

Replace them with wins over Costa and Caio and then #2 MW all time talk can begin

till brunson are good wins, I know it's revisionist history those are two wins whittaker holds and whittaker was always held in high regard. till is a former title challenger and brunson has faced all the best guys like jared, whittaker, yoel, jacare, izzy, dricus.... kinda a standard gatekeeper for good fighters

 

[Bret 'The Hitman' Hart]

I think Pereira catches him. DDP is hittable

 

[Luffy]

Lol DC really likes to make things get a little heated up. Poatan himself was very excited for the challenge and had even sparkling eyes to fight DDP... It's obvious he considers him a good and tough opponent. The too small could easily be referring to his size in height, since in Portuguese the world small can also mean in terms of height. If so, it makes sense, as in, Poatan can explore a reach advantage really well, like he did vs Khalil. And we don't even know how Alex Poatan said that, he may have told DC that in a humorous way, with the "he wants you" with "heh, he won't beat me, he's short for that"... These things end up taking the hype from the fight if anything, as both respect each others' abilities, but they'll obviously make confident statements among other people they're more comfortable with, it's just natural... There is no reason to be throwing in statements that weren't said to the public imo ....

 

[RockyLockridge]

Not sure how it could possibly be considered 'firing at ddp' when it was something not said or directed at ddp' at all just answering a question asked to him spoke it to the person who asked the question

 

[Luffy]

Btw, since some of you don't watch any interviews, Poatan went to DDP after the fight and asked if he challenged him. DDP (this was said by both Poatan and DDP equally) looked a little like "well duh" and said "yes, I did". Then Poatan said "make it happen, then". DDP then said they each had their own matches but that after they defeat their next opponents (Alex will fight Ankalaev and DDP will fight Chimaev) he'd love to share the octagon with Poatan. Then Poatan said "deal done", shook his hands.

And then Poatan has given an interview saying both him and Dricus agreed to be in 205. Alex asked 205? Dricus said "yes". Alex said in the interview "we have our next fights, but after that, Dricus wants it, I also want this match a lot, so the UFC has everything to make it happen if we win our next ones"...

DDP said in the post conference "huh Alex asking me if I challenged him was kinda anticlimactic, since I did that whole show and movie scene for him, but yeah, I said I challenged him and absolutely, we'd do that at 205. But not right now, first it's Chimaev. I'm not in a rush to fight Alex Pereira, for me it doesn't need to be soon. But I have the ultimate respect for him, he's a legend, he was a legendary kickboxer with 40 fights and to come to the UFC and do so much against top tier opponents in such a short amount of time... He's a legend, and for me, there is no doubt he is the pound for pound #1 now, absolutely. I just want to share the octagon with this legend, it'd be an honor... I want to fight whom I consider the best fighter and to prove I can do it against the best fighter of all. And I believe I will defeat him, I totally believe that. And both of us agreed to do some noise to make that happen if we win our next fights. I'll firstly demolish Chimaev, I'll give that man a hiding. And then I want to face Alex Pereira because he's such a legend". I dunno what he meant by giving Chimaev a "hiding"... But he said he'd destroy Chimaev, basically.

 

[Luffy]

Not sure how it could possibly be considered 'firing at ddp' when it was something not said or directed at ddp' at all just answering a question asked to him spoke it to the person who asked the question

Exactly, these guys from UFC want to make everything into a "ohh let's make some silly grudge and see the silly fans reacting..."

 

[moreorless87]

Pereira has his own game plan going on, and it doesn't involve DDP. If DDP really wants to fight Alex, he knows where to go. I don't think it's a good idea, but some people have to learn the hard way.

Every fight starts on the feet, and we'd find out in a hurry if DDP has a chin or not. The extent of Pereira's grappling ability is still an unknown, but DDP going into a fight against Alex...

- As the smaller man
- As the lesser striker between the two
- Is not a highly regarded wrestler or grappler (he's good, not amazing)
- Whose likely path to victory is to grind and fight heavy against a guy with strong leg kicks and legitimate KO power until the final bell

Not a great idea, in my opinion. I think DDP has the cardio to go 25 against Alex, and I think he's physically strong enough to impose his will. Which works fine against MW's, but Alex is fully settled in at 205lbs now and his timing and fight IQ is pretty slick. Counting on your chin to carry you to victory if you can't implement your game plan is not a wise choice.

I think DDP should stay in his lane, at least until the work is done at MW. Alex will be gone by then. DDP's a lot like Merab, you know exactly how he's going to fight, but it's just difficult to stop.

I suspect Alex's preferred career choice maybe to beat Ank and then potentially try and move up and fight Jones or Aspinall at HW, these champ vs champ matches do tend to happen more for the benefit of the guy moving up and Alex probably thinks he deserves to be viewed as the bigger fish. The big unknown of course is what Jones does, I think Dana/The UFC clearly favours him over any other fighter booking wise and if he sits on the shelf ages again and Tom waits for him it maybe Alex can't get the big HW fight he wants? if that happens then I could potentially see Alex/DDP hapening latter this year if they both win their next fights.

I do think we've seen a decent amount of grappling from Alex now personally, I think he's shown that just trying to hustle him or lay on him isnt easy and he's probably better now than he was last time we saw him grappling much against Jiri the first time around. I mean really he's been a full time MMA fighter for 4 years now and has grappling training going back well before that, he's not a newbie. Personally I think the main threat to him would be someone who can punish his "just stand up" style grappling tactics, DDP has shown some grappling threat but is he going to catch Alex in a transition? I feel like Aspinall maybe more of a threat there besides obviously being bigger with Alex not able to use leverage for takedown defence as he has previously.

I feel as well DDP's striking is well suited to people like Sean and Izzy, he likes to throw one off punch's from awkward angels and those two really give him the time and space to do that. Alex isnt ultra aggressive but he tends to stalk/pressure more than those two and he has shown good ability to counter guys even when their just throwing single strikes.

 

[bjjwar]

Dricus was only 15 lbs lighter than Alex on fight night. Dricus is more in-line with a typical light heavyweight. Alex fights at around 230 lbs. Dricus at 215 lbs. Dricus walks around weight is 225 - 231 lbs. Dricus is carrying a lot more muscle than Alex on a 3 inch smaller frame. That is while Dricus fighting at middleweight. Dricus is actually a light heavyweight more than he is a middleweight.

If Dricus truly adds more muscle for 205 lbs, he would look huge since he will be starting his weight cut at around 220 - 225 lbs.

People have a misconception about weight in the higher classes. I’m 6ft4 around 220-230lbs in shape. I can easily in 1-2 weeks go up to 250 or go down to 205 without even needung to cut much weight. At 250 i just look chubbier ofc, but not even close to fat. So for all the HW’s that are fat around 240-250, even some 265 lbs they could easily fight at LHW just by having a little discipline and not being lazy. DDP is a big dude, surely walks around 210-220.

 

[BowserJr]

till brunson are good wins, I know it's revisionist history those are two wins whittaker holds and whittaker was always held in high regard. till is a former title challenger and brunson has faced all the best guys like jared, whittaker, yoel, jacare, izzy, dricus.... kinda a standard gatekeeper for good fighters

Gate keepers exactly... the guys I mentioned are a step above as in title challengers

 

[Edward Henry Berg]

Btw, since some of you don't watch any interviews, Poatan went to DDP after the fight and asked if he challenged him. DDP (this was said by both Poatan and DDP equally) looked a little like "well duh" and said "yes, I did". Then Poatan said "make it happen, then". DDP then said they each had their own matches but that after they defeat their next opponents (Alex will fight Ankalaev and DDP will fight Chimaev) he'd love to share the octagon with Poatan. Then Poatan said "deal done", shook his hands.

And then Poatan has given an interview saying both him and Dricus agreed to be in 205. Alex asked 205? Dricus said "yes". Alex said in the interview "we have our next fights, but after that, Dricus wants it, I also want this match a lot, so the UFC has everything to make it happen if we win our next ones"...

DDP said in the post conference "huh Alex asking me if I challenged him was kinda anticlimactic, since I did that whole show and movie scene for him, but yeah, I said I challenged him and absolutely, we'd do that at 205. But not right now, first it's Chimaev. I'm not in a rush to fight Alex Pereira, for me it doesn't need to be soon. But I have the ultimate respect for him, he's a legend, he was a legendary kickboxer with 40 fights and to come to the UFC and do so much against top tier opponents in such a short amount of time... He's a legend, and for me, there is no doubt he is the pound for pound #1 now, absolutely. I just want to share the octagon with this legend, it'd be an honor... I want to fight whom I consider the best fighter and to prove I can do it against the best fighter of all. And I believe I will defeat him, I totally believe that. And both of us agreed to do some noise to make that happen if we win our next fights. I'll firstly demolish Chimaev, I'll give that man a hiding. And then I want to face Alex Pereira because he's such a legend". I dunno what he meant by giving Chimaev a "hiding"... But he said he'd destroy Chimaev, basically.

A sober take

 

[Edward Henry Berg]

I suspect Alex's preferred career choice maybe to beat Ank and then potentially try and move up and fight Jones or Aspinall at HW, these champ vs champ matches do tend to happen more for the benefit of the guy moving up and Alex probably thinks he deserves to be viewed as the bigger fish. The big unknown of course is what Jones does, I think Dana/The UFC clearly favours him over any other fighter booking wise and if he sits on the shelf ages again and Tom waits for him it maybe Alex can't get the big HW fight he wants? if that happens then I could potentially see Alex/DDP hapening latter this year if they both win their next fights.

I do think we've seen a decent amount of grappling from Alex now personally, I think he's shown that just trying to hustle him or lay on him isnt easy and he's probably better now than he was last time we saw him grappling much against Jiri the first time around. I mean really he's been a full time MMA fighter for 4 years now and has grappling training going back well before that, he's not a newbie. Personally I think the main threat to him would be someone who can punish his "just stand up" style grappling tactics, DDP has shown some grappling threat but is he going to catch Alex in a transition? I feel like Aspinall maybe more of a threat there besides obviously being bigger with Alex not able to use leverage for takedown defence as he has previously.

I feel as well DDP's striking is well suited to people like Sean and Izzy, he likes to throw one off punch's from awkward angels and those two really give him the time and space to do that. Alex isnt ultra aggressive but he tends to stalk/pressure more than those two and he has shown good ability to counter guys even when their just throwing single strikes.

Another sober, and realistic, take

 

[rjmbrd]

11 years ago jan was 30 and still in his physical prime and carrying more muscle than he does these days. That guy wasn't making WW for sure.

Or course, just thought why not use a verified source with context, e.g. him making his debut.

I thought Dricus looked noticeably more girthy than strickland. If you're a MW weighing over 210lbs on fightnight, you're not a middle of the pack sized MW. You're just not.

Not to be pedantic but I'm discussing frame/skeletal size. I understand that Dricus is adequately muscled for the division, but he is not the same size human as someone like Poatan at middleweight.

I don't think he's as big as prime Rockhold, Weidman and others who could literally never make a scale read 170lbs in their adult lives.

Regardless, poatan has fought and lost to smaller guys than Dricus. The "too small narrative" is just him talking.

I think its him being honest and cheeky at the same time.

 

[deviake]

From what I've read it's not a massive size difference though Alex is definitely bigger. My takeaway from this is that perhaps Alex only wants to fight people in his class or larger.

I'd definitely watch the fight and would be excited to see it despite the discrepancy in size but I'd rather see both fight other people.

DDP's biggest strengths are his power, durability, and well roundedness, his ability to mix up attacks would be something Alex hasn't dealt with, but man, if Alex even lands 1-2 good kicks or punches DDP might waiver in his confidence and pressure. Hard to say. He is capable of hurting Alex on the feet though and is a threat on the ground so it's interesting.

 

[puppybird]

he's right, ddp is seen as big at middleweight but he's the same height and frame as strickland who is tiny next to alex. He has more muscle but is just too short, there's no top 5 level LHW who is as short as ddp

How tall is Daniel Cormier?