UFC Fight Night 176: Overeem vs. Sakai - Predictions and Picks

#4 UFC Welterweight Division: Michel Pereira vs. Zelim Imadaev

The UFC may still see star potential in Brazilian wildman Michel Pereira

By the time he steps into the Octagon at the weekend, it’ll have been nearly 7 months since we last saw Brazilian wildman Pereira in the UFC. That fight was one of the most bizarre of 2020, as ‘Demolidor’ unleashed all of his weird flips and tricks against a diminished Diego Sanchez, who ended up winning by DQ after Pereira illegally kneed him in the head.

The fight practically summed up Pereira in a nutshell. Sanchez looked massively hittable and didn’t really offer a lot of offense, and yet rather than really open up in an attempt to finish him, ‘Demolidor’ preferred to try all kinds of crazy offense that often didn’t work.

So is Pereira really all flash, no substance? Well, kind of. He’s clearly a very dangerous fighter. Danny Roberts is an excellent UFC-level Welterweight by anyone’s standards and Pereira turned his lights out in seconds last May.

However, if he can’t take out his opponent in a crazy rush, then it’s definitely true that he’s vulnerable. He gassed out horribly against the much smaller, late replacement Tristan Connelly last year for instance and ended up losing a decision, and the Sanchez fight looked more in line with that than the Roberts KO.

The question then is whether Russia’s Imadaev has enough to survive Pereira’s early rush before grinding him down as Connelly did.

Thus far in his UFC career, I’d say there are definitely questions over whether he’s capable of doing that. Before he signed with the UFC in 2018 he was able to go 8-0 on the regional circuit, knocking out all of his foes.

But at UFC 236, he struggled against Max Griffin, essentially being ground down by the more experienced veteran despite some flashy moments. And against former Pereira victim Roberts, he found himself outgunned somewhat and suffered a bad knockout.

Basically, the Russian just doesn’t seem like the kind of grinder who’ll be able to outwork Pereira down the stretch like Connelly did and a prime Sanchez would’ve been capable of doing. Instead it feels like he’s more likely to fight fire with fire and stand and trade off with ‘Demolidor’.

If that’s the case then I’ve got to favour Pereira. He’s more explosive, is the bigger man and judging from what Imadaev showed against Griffin, he’s probably better on the ground and in the clinch too.

My honest suspicion is that despite his last two showings, the UFC still views Pereira as a possible star in the mould of a Matt Brown or Derrick Lewis – not necessarily a title contender but the kind of exciting fighter you can throw into the main event of a Fight Night without eyebrows being raised.

A big win here would go a long way to justify the UFC feeling like that – if indeed that’s the case – and so I’m going with Pereira via KO.

The Pick: Pereira via first-round KO