Knockouts, submissions and lots of 'smoke mix': remember Michel Pereira's meteoric rise in the UFC

Between knockouts, submissions and a lot of 'smoke mix', Michael Pereira built a streak of eight consecutive victories in the UFC. Next Saturday (19), the Brazilian will have the biggest fight of his career against Alexander Hernandez, which takes place in the main fight of the ufc vegas 99 this Saturday (19).

To heat things up, the SUPER FIGHTS prepared a special about the best moments of 'Chechel', affectionately nicknamed by Brazilian fans, inside the Ultimate octagon.

Slap in the face

After a two-fight losing streak, Michel was paired against Russian Zelim Imadaev, who slapped him in the face during the weigh-in.

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In the fight, the Brazilian returned the favor, landing open hand attacks on his rival's head, and finishing the fight with a rear naked choke at the end of the third round, in addition to receiving the 'Performance of the Night' bonus.

In the next three fights, Michael Pereira won Khaos Williams, Niko Price e André Fialho by unanimous decision. Finally, it overcame Santiago Ponzinibbio by split decision, in a duel that earned him the 'Fight of the Night' award.

Category change

With the winning streak, the Brazilian had his first chance to face a ranked opponent in the UFC, but the confrontation against Stephen Thompson was cancelled the day before UFC 291 because Michel failed to make the welterweight limit (up to 77 kg). Thus, he was forced to move up to middleweight (up to 83,9 kg).

In his new category, 'Demolidador' had three fights that, added together, totaled three minutes and one second of work in the octagon. The knockout over Andre Petroski and the finishes on Michał Oleksiejczuk and Ihor Potieria secured three 'Performance of the Night' bonuses for Michel.

Michael Pereira

At 31, Michael Pereira He has 31 wins, eleven losses and two fights without a result on his resume.

Currently, the 'Flying Paraense' is 14th in the middleweight rankings and, despite having lost two of his first three fights in the Ultimate, he is in great form and will have his first main fight next Saturday (19).