Pereira: Diego Is ‘Afraid Of What’s Going To Happen Saturday Night’

Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

With his weight cut out of the way, Michel Pereira called out Diego Sanchez for threatening to pull out of their Rio Rancho fight.

Diego Sanchez made it quite clear leading up to his fight with Michel Pereira at UFC Fight Night 167 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico that he would not compete should Pereira miss weight. It didn’t matter if it was by several pounds or an ounce. “If he misses weight for this fight, there will be no fight,” Sanchez said. “I’ll take my show money and say see you later.”

Fortunately for everybody watching this weekend’s card, Michel not only made weight, he came in one pound lighter than required at ‘championship weight.’ “Demolidor” made it clear that was his plan to show the UFC he was serious about fighting at welterweight, and to stick it to Sanchez. In an Instagram statement released shortly after the ceremonial weigh-ins, Pereira opened up about his past weigh-in mishap and what he thought of Diego’s head games.

”I have a message for the UFC, the fans, and Diego Sanchez,” Pereira wrote. “First, I want to begin by addressing the fact that many fans criticized me because of the fact that I missed weight by 0.8lbs in my last fight in Canada. There were extreme circumstances around that incident that I want the public to know. First, the main person that was coming to assist me with cutting weight, was not able to secure his Visa, and I was left to do the entire weight cut alone, with my main coaches flying in after the official weigh in. This issue cost me over $55,000 as I had to forfeit my bonus and pay a % of my purse to my opponent for the missed weight.”