Chael Sonnen shares hilarious take on why he mispronounces Alex Pereira's name: "Screwed me up very early on"

UFC veteran Chael Sonnen has a habit of getting names wrong. Recently, Sonnen humorously explained why he often mispronounces reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira’s name.

‘Poatan’ called out Dricus du Plessis following the latter’s victory against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. Sonnen made a video for his YouTube channel where he got Pereira’s name wrong, pronouncing it as ‘Pierra,’ which went viral and became a hilarious topic in the MMA community.

In a recent episode of ESPN’s Good Guy/Bad Guy, UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier humorously inquired about how many times Sonnen had mispronounced Alex Pereira's name. The 47-year-old gave a brief explanation behind the situation, emphasizing that someone had taught him how to pronounce Pereira’s name, but it turned out to be the wrong way. Sonnen said:

"I'm trying. I asked him how to say 'Pereira.' You know, I think it was Kenny Floren, but somebody screwed me up very early on. They said, 'Think of George St. Pierre—say Pierre—and then just add a .' So, I say Piera Piera. I'm doing it the way I was taught to do it, which it turns out I was taught wrong. I think Kenny's playing a trick on me."

Check out Chael Sonnen’s comments below (34:56):

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Chael Sonnen says Alex Pereira's potential heavyweight title win would end GOAT debate

Alex Pereira made his UFC debut in late 2021, and in a short period, he became a two-division champion. Currently, he holds the light heavyweight belt, and many analysts and pundits believe he could be the one to become the first UFC three-division champion.

Meanwhile, Chael Sonnen, during his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, shared his thoughts:

"I feel like if he wins it at heavyweight, even if he's an interim, you know, he's just trying to fight [Tom] Aspinall at 300 [pounds] for example, if it's an interim or the undisputed.

"I feel like if he wins a belt at heavyweight and goes, champ, champ, champ [three division champion] the discussion is over whether we like it or not. We no longer talk about who's the GOAT, We just, we refer to Alex... And it is an amazing thing what he did, 36 years old."

Check out Chael Sonnen’s comments on Alex Pereira below: