UFC Fight Night 158: 5 fights that you have to see

#3 Michel Pereira vs. Tristan Connelly

Michel Pereira went viral after his wild knockout of Danny Roberts in May

This fight has been put together on late notice – so much so that I wasn’t able to preview it earlier in the week. That’s because Michel Pereira was initially set to fight Sergey Khandozkho, only for Khandozkho to be removed from the card due to Visa issues.

The fact that Tristan Connelly has taken the fight on less than a week’s notice should be worrying for him – but should be very intriguing for the fans, too.

Footage on Connelly – who is currently 10-6 in MMA and has been fighting professionally since 2010 – is sparse, and it would appear that he’s been selected for this opportunity simply because he’s a native of Vancouver. The footage on Pereira, on the other hand, is far more extensive – and shows a man with a serious talent for violence.

‘Demolidor’ went viral before he even signed with the UFC due to his penchant for wild attacks, including a variety of strikes that saw him spring off the cage, Anthony Pettis-style. Few expected that style to work in the UFC – so many fans were blown away when he used that flashy assault to take out the tough Danny Roberts in just under two minutes in May.

The likelihood of this fight being competitive seems low, but given Pereira’s penchant for in-cage craziness, there’s a chance he could try something extremely unorthodox on Saturday – making this one unmissable.