Alex "Poatan" Periera is one of the most decorated kickboxers in the world right now hes the Middleweight champion and interim Light Heavyweight champion in Glory, Alex famously beat Adesanya twice (First fight was a controversial decision though) but kod adesanya very badly in the rematch despite being outboxed in the opening rounds and given a standing 8, This content is protected just had another MMA match last month that flew under the radar for me in which he gave out a terrifying KO This content is protected Glover Texiera a ufc contender who recently started training with him says that he believes Perieria will be in the ufc by the end of 2021 This content is protected What do you guys think? No one is gonna wanna stand with this guy and if his BJJ and Wrestling continue to improve and he keeps the fight standing I don't see anyone beating him besides maybe Adesanya. A rematch in MMA between him and Izzy would be something straight out of a movie hes obviously not ready for it now but if he earns his way to the top at 205 and 185 in the UFC I would absolutely love to see that fight. heres a link to some of his kickboxing highlights This content is protected
He's definitely a very talented athlete and striker, but it's always hard to say how elite kickboxers will transition into mixed-martial arts. The guy is already 33 years old, so he's got very limited time to learn if he wants to make a serious run at it. For every success story like Mirko Cro Cop and Israel Adesanya, there are three times as many failures like Badr Hari, Andy Souwer, and Gokhan Saki. Even Mark Hunt and Semmy Schilt only had very moderate success. You can say that that's because they started too late, were too shopworn from their kickboxing career or they didn't train long enough to learn the requisite grappling skills, but that's besides the point. Some guys will never have the specific athleticism or athletic intelligence necessary to learn grappling and how all these martial arts work together seamlessly. Still, he does have some upside. He's got insane power first of all. That left hook is absolutely vicious. Despite being a pressure fighter, he has excellent skill and instincts in moving his head offline when he throws punches and uses these defense to create new opportunities when his opponent misses. His head movement and distance management isn't amazing, but it's subtly effective. His counter left hook reminds me of Nieky Hozken. He also uses his punching combinations to chains knees, to both the head and body, in a way that flows very effectively. He can use roundhouse punches and straights to the body to set up hooks and uppercuts. Also, I love that right high kick/left hook combination. Very sneaky. Plus, the fact that he has such an extensive background in boxing and kickboxing gives him an incredible reservoir of fighting experience and skill in different aspects of martial arts that he could draw from. It'll be interesting, that's for sure. Typically the high-level kickboxers that have transitioned the best in mma are guys are long-range fighters like Cro Cop and Izzy. But obviously you can be successful as a pressure fighter in mma, but you have to develop some takedown defense as those opportunities will be there more often at close and medium range. We'll have to wait and see if he's capable of learning an overall mma skillset and adapting his striking for mma purposes. The one good thing he's got for him, is that if he fights at middleweight there aren't that many good grapplers around that weight anymore. As great as Israel is, that's one thing that's benefitted him. It's given him the time to develop without having to worry about a prime Weidman, Rockhold and Yoel Romero destroying him on the floor.
