UFC light heavyweight Jan Błachowicz is set to welcome former middleweight champion Alex Pereira to the 205 division next month. UFC President Dana White announced the matchup on May 16, as the fight will be the featured co-main event on the UFC 291 card on July 29. This will be Pereira’s UFC debut at light heavyweight, as he hopes to win a title in a weight class that could be healthier for him.
“Poatan” was the champion at middleweight after he defeated Israel Adesanya by TKO at UFC 281 on Nov. 12, 2022. However, it wouldn’t last long as Adesanya got his revenge and regained the title by beating Pereira by knockout at UFC 287 on April 8. UFC fans thought Pereira would try to get a third fight with the middleweight champion to settle their rivalry, but he decided to move up to light heavyweight instead. Błachowicz, who was considering going to middleweight for a potential matchup against “The Last Stylebender,” remained at 205 and accepted to fight Pereira next month.
The fight’s winner could be the next title challenger for the UFC light heavyweight championship, as Błachowicz revealed last month. While the stakes for the light heavyweight matchup are high, former UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen doesn’t believe UFC fans care about Pereira vs. Błachowicz.
Images: Jason da Silva/Jessica Alcheh/USA TODAY Sports
Chael Sonnen Believes Pereira & Błachowicz Aren’t Draws
Sonnen shared on his YouTube Channel that he believes Pereira and Błachowicz think their fighting ability and accomplishments are selling their fight, but he disagrees. He believes that neither man knows they aren’t considered draws in UFC.
“From the department of who cares comes Błachowicz vs. Pereira, well I don’t mean that to sound like a jerk, but you have two guys that don’t have the ability to bring interest to anything. They’re just not equipped with that. So you gotta understand you’re dealing with two narcissists, both Błachowicz and Pereira. I never met them. You’re dealing with two narcissists clinically,” said Sonnen.
He shared that anybody that competes in a sport like MMA is a narcissist and that he would know because he is one.
“Along with narcissism comes an idea that everybody knows what it is that you have done. Everybody knows the significance of this fight. I could make this a really great spoiler, and I could do it really quickly. They narcissistically believe that I already have, and I don’t mean me, your intellectual superior Chael Sonnen. I’m talking just the average viewer. The average viewer has already put together that we have a guy who beat a guy three times vs. the guy where they fought once, and it was pretty competitive but he got taken down, and we got a world champion here vs. a former world champion up here. This guy’s first time coming up, and this guy’s known for the power on his feet, but this guy is as technical as they come. They think the world knows that, and they don’t. The viewer that watches every single Saturday doesn’t find what I just said to be interesting.”
Images: Jessica Alcheh/USA TODAY Sports & Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Sonnen feels UFC’s decision to put the light heavyweight bout as the co-main event was the company’s way of saying that fans wouldn’t be interested in them as a main event. It’s worth noting that the main event of UFC 291 will have Dustin Poirer taking on Justin Gaethje for the vacant BMF Championship. While Pereira and Błachowicz’s fight has title implications, UFC tends to have the championship fights as a main pay-per-view event.
Regardless of Sonnen’s thoughts on whether Pereira and Błachowicz are a draw, he acknowledges that the fight intrigues him. The winner of the light heavyweight bout could be a backup option to challenge for the UFC light heavyweight title if Jamahal Hill can’t fight Jiri Procházka later this year.
https://www.mmanews.com/news/chael-sonnen-on-why-narcissists-alex-pereira-and-jan-blachowicz-are-not-draws
