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Will the Izzy-knockout affect Alex Pereira’s confidence?

Will the Izzy-knockout affect Alex Pereira’s confidence and/or fighting style?

  • Total voters
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i dont think he cares

he said there wasn't even a rivalry between them. it was something izzy and the media created. he just takes the fights that get him the most money. he's already cemented a legacy in glory kickboxing. he's too old to do it in the ufc. although he did become a UFC champion. something guys like dustin, tony, chael, etc never accomplished.
 
Nah. I think it could make him better to fix the holes his defensive. Plus not cutting so much weight can help him with taking shots and recovering
 
BoxerMaurits said:
… and to a lesser extent, his fighting style?


Alex has never been KO’d in his fighting career, prior to his loss against Adesanya last week.
Poatan only had 2 TKO losses.

In 2016, Alex Pereira got TKO’d by Artur Kyshenko (standing TKO, referee stopped the fight). No shame in that though, Kyshenko was considered one of the best active fighters at the time, an ATG kickboxer. Pereira got back in the win column seven months after this loss, knocking out Israel Adesanya.

Artur Kyshenko stopping Alex Pereira (timestamped):



All the way back in 2012, Alex Pereira got TKO’d by Jason Wilnis via leg kicks. Wilnis was the reigning defending It’s Showtime middleweight-champion at the time they fought, while Pereira was very green and fought Wilnis in just his 5th pro-kickboxing fight.

Jason Wilnis stopping Alex Pereira (timestamped):



We probably all know how their most recent fight ended though… (timestamped):




Those are Pereira’s only two stoppage losses in kickboxing. Yeah he got stopped, but both occasions weren’t particularly close to getting knocked out cold like last week. He’s never experienced this kind of definitive loss prior to the 4th Adesanya fight.

Will this affect Pereira’s confidence (in his chin)? Will this affect Pereira’s fighting style?

Alex Pereira never was the type of fighter who uses a high-guard to block punches, he rather stays/moves out of punching range with his hands low to avoid getting hit, but he’s also not afraid to take one.
Pereira definitely gets hit at times (if his opponent matches his technical ability) when he attacks or closes the distance. We saw it last week..
Most of the times Alex doesn’t seem too worried about it though. Prior to the fourth fight against Izzy, Alex has never been knocked out.

I assume Pereira trusts the ability of his chin to take a good shot and his fights against Artem Vakhitov show this. Vakhitov landed a lot of clean overhand rights and 1-2’s right through Pereira’s guard, and he just ate them, not really worrying about blocking/dodging them.
This shows that Pereira is open to these kind of punches, but also that he really trusts his chin in taking a good shot.

Highlights of Artem Vakhitov vs Alex Pereira 1&2:




Getting knocked out like that for the first time in your career has to get in your head, especially for a guy who normally fights with so much confidence.

This raises the question: Will the Izzy-knockout affect Alex Pereira’s confidence and/or fighting style?

It really doesn’t have to be, but Alex may fight more tentative in future fights, not really trusting his chin anymore (not feeling 100% invincible like he did before). He may be less aggressive in exchanges, change a few details in his fighting style, and maybe abandon some of the aspects that made him the exciting fighter and great champion he is today.

Again, doesn’t have to be the case, maybe it didn’t even affect his chin at all, but getting knocked out cold for the first time ever is no joke.


What do you guys think?

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I don't think Alex has a vagina. So, no, I don't think the loss will "affect him."

If anything, it will piss him off.

Even Henry Caputo said, "Nothing affects Alex Pereira's composure."

I don't think this is a gimmick, I think it's integral to who Pereira is.
 
Has he ever been knocked out that badly before in kickboxing? I wouldn't be surprised if he is a bit gun shy coming back. We saw that with Usman only a few weeks ago - certainly didn't have the same confidence.
I kind of hope he takes a good amount of time to recover before he returns. If you come back too early these things have the tendency to happen again.
 
I remember when Pat Barry said he had never been KO'd in sparring or in competition. Then the Kongo fight happened and he was never the same.

Quite a lot of parallels here - seasoned kickboxer who got overzealous looking for a finish and got his clock cleaned. Hopefully Alex doesn't experience a similar slide after this the same way Pat did.
 
No. He has perhaps the most stoic approach to fighting besides maybe Fedor
He really seems to hold no emotional connection to much of anything besides the actual competition, and even that is slight
He really doesn't seem that bothered he even lost
He just seems to genuinely like fighting.
Really if he just tightens his defense and works on his ground game more I have zero idea who beats him. His chin was already good at 185, and without like the biggest fucking weight cut ever I expect it'll be even better at lhw
Dude is super cool and super good. Who ever isn't a fan probably just hates him because he whooped Izzy 3 times
 
It think so. He can make adjustments but he can be got at now. He barely made it out of the first round in the 3rd fight w izzy and in the next fight he gets put down. Got to be on your mind a little bit. Whether it shows,remains to be seen.
 
Probably not - it's not like he was getting lit up and outclassed. In fact the fight was going his way and he was slowly chopping izzy down. He made a mistake.

Maybe he'll be a little more cautious going for the kill - not rely so much on the LH, or learn to double it up and then to clinch to slow things down.
 
No Pereira seems to need to make the same adjustments he did against Vakhitov. Fight at range and any time Izzy/Vakhitov get close clinch like his life depends on it. I don't think Izzy countered him but more so just won a brawl they both threw down and both guys seemed to get hurt but Izzy got the finish... extremely impressive but I doubt Pereira will be scared from being KO'd such a way. Where as a guy like Whittaker had to overcome some massive mental barriers because he was countered at will in the 1st fight.
Pereira seems to have a real weakness in the pocket, in KB everybody tends to like to stay on the end of their punches/kicks and Pereira is certainly at his best there and far better than the worlds best KB's at range. Izzy can't match Pereira at range but he did find out where he has his advantage on the feet he did a beautiful job of throwing in the pocket and let his speed + fluidity carry him to win those in pocket exchanges and his angles helped him avoid any damage inside.



I wish a rematch was next for both because it would be the biggest chess match.
Izzy knows not to play the range game and Pereira knows not to strike while close, I think both guys are such high level strikers that fear isn't in the equation for either man.
 
legcramp said:
He just has to fight the same way he did before he went charging for the KO. He was arguably picking Izzy apart with the leg kicks, he just have to do a gameplan to pick his shots and the KO will come since he has dynamite for hands.
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My feeling as well, Alex seems like the type to learn from this, hopefully it just makes him more cautious of running in the second he smells blood.
 
flowroller said:
I remember when Pat Barry said he had never been KO'd in sparring or in competition. Then the Kongo fight happened and he was never the same.

Quite a lot of parallels here - seasoned kickboxer who got overzealous looking for a finish and got his clock cleaned. Hopefully Alex doesn't experience a similar slide after this the same way Pat did.
Click to expand...
"Quite a lot of parallels between Alex Periera and Pat Barry"
Sherdog, sometimes you make me feel like Jane Goodall.
<WhatItIs>
 
of course it will.
getting KOed by someone not known for his power like that will leave doubts in anyones head.

the question is how can he gain his confidence again. no one knows…
 
Getting knocked out will have impact on any fighter’s confidence, the question is if they can get over it and mentally recover. Some will mentally recover after 3 weeks, some after 3 years, some will never.
 
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