"This guy wants to kill me" - When Alex Pereira named reigning UFC champ as the only fighter he was "scared" of

Alex Pereira is one of the most accomplished combat sports athletes in the world, but there is a reigning UFC champion who spooked even the great 'Poatan'.

During an interview with So Papos MMA, the Brazilian named middleweight kingpin Sean Strickland as the only fighter to have ever instilled fear in him.

According to Pereira, he was wary of 'Tarzan's' wealth of MMA experience going into their UFC 276 bout. However, it wasn't until Strickland was standing opposite to him in the cage that 'Poatan' realized how intimidating the American really was:

"Talking about my last fight, [Strickland] had 25 fights, was doing well in the UFC, ranked No.4 in the middleweight rankings, he’s dangerous, he’s experienced, I was scared, but when I heard him talk, I relaxed a little bit... he was talking some stuff that didn’t make any sense."

Pereira added:

"When he entered the octagon and started staring at me, he hadn’t looked at me that way before. That was when I became scared. He’s another person inside the octagon, different from his normal personality. I thought, 'This guy wants to kill me.' I’m telling you, this was a different guy from everything else. [h/t MMA Mania]"

However, the 36-year-old believes it benefited him that he was wary of Strickland as it made him employ a more measured approach and lure his opponent into a knockout blow.

Watch Alex Pereira knock out Sean Strickland below:

Pereira used to be a highly accomplished kickboxer before switching to MMA. It took him just seven fights in the UFC to solidify his legacy as a two-division champion.

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Tom Aspinall on Alex Pereira sizing him up

UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall believes Alex Pereira was sizing him up at the UFC 295 press conference.

During a recent segment on the True Geordie YouTube channel, the Englishman claimed that he feels 'Poatan' truly believes he can beat him:

"[After the press conference, I told my father] he thinks he can beat me, you know... I could just tell. I literally could feel off him. I felt like he was sizing me up a little bit. I almost got the feeling from him like I would get from an opponent before I would fight him."

Catch Tom Aspinall's comments about Alex Pereira below:

Interestingly, when Pereira was quizzed about the prospect of taking on Aspinall at UFC 300, the light heavyweight kingpin stated that although he would be willing to fight a heavyweight, a move up to the division would take meticulous planning.

Catch Alex Pereira's comments below (7:29):