Chris Weidman isn’t entirely sold on Alex Pereira when he sees a gaping hole in his wrestling.
Light heavyweight champion Pereira (10-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) is fresh off his first title defense – a first-round knockout of Jamahal Hill in the UFC 300 main event.
In less than three years with the UFC, Pereira already has captured titles in two weight divisions and even is contemplating a future move to heavyweight. Weidman thinks Pereira is one-dimensional and compared his lack of well-rounded skills to Ben Askren, who dominated opposition with his grappling.
“It’s hard for me to get fully behind Pereira because I do see such an opening with the wrestling, and he hasn’t really fought wrestlers,” Weidman said on the “Believe You Me” podcast. “It’s almost so crazy, and it’s such a deficiency based on what we’ve seen so far. It’s almost like Ben Askren coming into the UFC and being able to just become a multiple-time champion with no hands.
“It’s like a striker looking at Ben Askren and thinking, ‘How the hell is this guy the world champion?’ He was able to do it in Bellator, he was able to do it (in ONE Championship). I mean, the guy had an unbelievable MMA career and he had no striking at all. … This guy’s almost the opposite. I would almost say he’s as bad (at) wrestling as Ben Askren is with striking.”
Like Daniel Cormier, Weidman is surprised with the amount of success Pereira has been able to have with what he sees as a limited skill set.
“This guy may go down as one of the best fighters of all time,” Weidman said. “It is weird to see. I don’t know if it’s just the matchups or the evolution of the sport.”
