"He's a normal fighter" - Alex Pereira dismisses Jan Błachowicz’s 'Polish power', says he is not a knockout artist

Alex Pereira and Jan Błachowicz are set to square off in the co-main event of UFC 291 this coming Saturday. The bout was initially expected to be a title eliminator that would identify the next challenger for Jamahal Hill's then divisional crown. Unfortunately, 'Sweet Dreams' has since vacated the title after sustaining an injury.

This might have upped the stakes of the bout, as some fans still expect the UFC to upgrade it into a fight for the vacant title. Ahead of his clash with Jan Błachowicz, 'Poatan' was dismissive of his foe's reputation as a power-puncher, which was magnified by Błachowicz describing it as 'the legendary Polish power'.

Specifically, Alex Pereira shot down former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier's warning that he must avoid being hit by Jan Błachowicz. On a recent episode of MMAFighting's Portuguese podcast Trocação Franca, Alex Pereira said the following (at 15:07 minutes):

"If he was a guy who has knocked out everybody, I would say, ‘Damn.’ But no, he’s a normal fighter. A former champion, experienced and dangerous, but many people say (about me), 'He was knocked out, he won’t come back the same.' F***, I beat Adesanya twice in kickboxing and once in MMA, a scary knockout in kickboxing, oxygen mask and everything, and he came back and beat me."

Błachowicz is no stranger to scoring knockouts against former middleweight champions, as he remains the last person to flatline Luke Rockhold in MMA.

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Who did Jan Błachowicz knock out to become the UFC light heavyweight champion?

The Polish power-puncher is a former champion at 205 pounds and remains the only one to defend his title since Jon Jones' departure from the division. He defended his title against Israel Adesanya, a former middleweight champion, beating him via unanimous decision. But who did he beat to become champion?

At UFC 253, Jan Błachowicz faced Dominick Reyes, who was coming off a controversial loss to Jon Jones. Many felt that 'The Devastator' had been robbed of a rightful win. But there was no doubt when Błachowicz brutalized and TKO'd him in the second round to fulfill his championship dreams.