Stepping into the octagon or facing a new opponent in the ring is a moment that brings even the fiercest fighters, like Alex Pereira, face-to-face with their human side. Amid the roar of the crowd, the glaring lights, and the weight of expectations, a unique battle plays out within fighters’ minds – the battle against fear. And as fans, we are not used to hearing or understanding this. 

No matter how experienced or scary a fighter might be, there’s an undeniable overflow of emotions that accompanies those first few steps toward the center. Pereira, who we see as a scary human, in a video has spoken openly about his pre-fight jitters during his fight with Sean Strickland at UFC 276. And this revelation from Pereira, who has 40+ wins in his fight career, has ignited a flurry of reactions from fans, leaving them shocked.

Alex Pereira got scared

In a video surfacing over Reddit, Pereira has talked about the emotions he felt during his fight with Strickland. Talking about fighting someone like Strickland, who was highly ranked and experienced, Pereira said, “OK, I will talk about the last fight. They booked the fight. The guy with 25 fights. Ranked number 4 in the organization. Dangerous. Experienced. It scared me, you know? At the moment of his entrance, when he stepped in the octagon, he looked at me in a way that he never did before. At the moment, I went into fear mode.”

These statements from the scary-looking fighter, who we also know as Poatan, have left the MMA community stunned. A fan stated, “Damn, when someone as fearless as Poatan says that a fighter scared, Sean must be a whole different beast inside the cage.” Another fan, while highlighting Sean’s aura during his walkout, stated, “Sean must have a chaotic crazy aura to him.”

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Here are some fans’ reactions: 

• I don’t know why that gave me a little anxiety.
• Sean must have a chaotic crazy aura to him
• Strickland is a goon and does whacky shit but he’s still one of the 50-100 most dangerous people his size in the world.
• Damn, when someone as fearless as Poatan says that a fighter scared, Sean must be a whole different beast inside the cage.
• Interesting makes some sense but I thought Sean looked scared the entire time leading up to the fight
• This is fake right?
• There’s also the fact that Sean is a goof in the gym and sparring. When he walked into the cage he was dead serious. Pereira probably picked up on that and got him alerted.

This guy is gonna kill me: Pereira

Pereira also talked about the changed looks of Strickland leading to the octagon, underscoring the focused and scary look on his face. “I thought ‘This guy is gonna kill me.’ It was not the same guy. It was another guy in the octagon. Different in everything. The moment he entered and looked me in the eye, I was saying to myself, Damn! That’s another guy here. I have to be careful.’ I managed that situation pretty well. I stayed alert and caught him,” said Pereira.

Hearing this from someone like Pereira speaks volumes about how talented a fighter Strickland is. Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) is all set to fight for the UFC middleweight title against Israel Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) at UFC 293 on September 9. Who are you supporting at UFC 293? Strickland or Adesanya? Comment below.

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