Josh Thomson and John McCarthy talk about Alex Pereira's chances against the rest of the top middleweights

Josh Thomson and John McCarthy recently discussed how newly crowned UFC middleweight champ Alex Pereira would fare against other fighters in the division.

Pereira took on Israel Adesanya at the main event of UFC 281 with the 185 lbs title on the line. The Brazilian stunned the audience as he defeated 'The Last Stylebender' via a fifth-round TKO to become the new middleweight king of the promotion.

On the Weighing In podcast, hosts Josh Thomson and John McCarthy discussed how Pereira would perform against other middleweights. McCarthy opined that former champ Robert Whittaker would take down the Brazilian. The veteran referee also claimed that Marvin Vettori could prove to be a problem for 'Poatan' on the ground.

'Big John' also listed fighters such as Jack Hermansson and Andre Muniz as potential threats for the newly crowned middleweight champ. Giving his opinion on Alex Pereira, McCarthy said:

"In watching your new champion, you have got to be honest and say he's got big holes...You put Robert Whittaker. Obviously, Robert Whittaker cannot be in a stand-up battle with Pereira, but he's not gonna try to be in a stand-up battle with him. He's gonna try to take him down...Marvin Vettori...one thing he has, he's got a chin. So, he can take some shots, but he is good at getting people to the ground and grinding on him. And if he gets that fight to the ground and grind on, you know, Alex...look out...Can you imagine if Hermansson goes to the ground with Pereira? It's gonna be over...If you look at Andre Muniz...his ground game is fantastic."

You can check out the latest edition of the Weighing In podcast below:

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Alex Pereira recalls advice from his corner that led to his TKO victory over Adesanya

History repeated itself again at UFC 281. Alex Pereira once again defeated his Glory rival and former middleweight champ Israel Adesanya to become the new kingpin of the division.

In his post-fight presser, the Brazilian recalled last-minute advice from his corner that led to his final-round TKO win against the former champ. 'Poatan' revealed that a dose of inspiration from former heavyweight champ Glover Teixeira sparked him to "knock out" his opponent in the fifth round:

“I knew it was going to be a very hard fight...I tried to pace myself, but going into the last round, my corners and Glover kept it real with me. I looked at him and said, ‘Do I have to knock him out?’ And Glover said, ‘You do have to knock him out.’ And then I said, ‘OK, let’s do it." [via translator.]

Check out Alex Pereira's post-fight conference below: