Colby Covington recalls first meeting and training with Alex Pereira: "He knew he was gonna get into MMA"

Colby Covington recently recalled meeting Alex Pereira for the first time and opened up about his experience training with him. The two met back when 'Chaos' was still a member of American Top Team and the Brazilian was still competing for Glory Kickboxing.

'Poatan' has taken MMA by storm since making a permanent transition from kickboxing and joining the UFC. Pereira has become a two-division champion and is currently the reigning light heavyweight champion, which he successfully defended three times last year.

During his latest appearance on Submission Radio, the former interim welterweight champion recounted meeting the Brazilian at American Top Team and noted that Glover Teixeira requested he work with his pupil. Covington mentioned that Pereira was eager to learn and wanted to brush up on his skills for his inevitable transition to MMA:

"Probably 7 or 8 years ago...[Pereira] came in with Glover Teixeira and I was good friends with Glover, we would always go fishing and barbeque in his backyard. So, he brought in Alex and he wanted me to help him with wrestling cause he was this great Glory kickboxer...He knew he was already gonna get into MMA at that time when he was kickboxing...I was helping with wrestling for a little bit and I respect the guy." [27:45]

Check out the full interview with Colby Covington below:

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Colby Covington lavishes praise on Alex Pereira

In addition to recalling his first meeting and training session with Alex Pereira, Colby Covington also lavished praise on the reigning light heavyweight champion.

Despite being a polarizing figure in MMA with his trash talk of some of the top fighters in the sport, 'Chaos' has shared his admiration for others. During the aforementioned appearance, Covington lauded Pereira's run in the UFC and mentioned he is impressed with what he has accomplished in such a short amount of time:

"There's no way you can't be impressed with the body of work that Alex has done. You know, showing up on short notice, saving cards, I mean, knocking people silly unconscious into another dimension. So, I've always respected and liked Alex." [27:29]

Check out Colby Covington and Alex Pereira's interaction below: