Daniel Cormier gives his prediction for a potential Alex Pereira vs. Jake Paul boxing fight

Daniel Cormier gives his take on how Jake Paul vs. Alex Pereira would go. Cormier thinks Jake Paul could do more than survive a round or two with Alex Pereira.

Paul (10-1) has a made a boxing career out of beating UFC stars such as Nate Diaz and Anderson Silva, most recently annihilating “Platinum” Mike Perry by round 6 TKO in Tampa, Florida. In the aftermath, the 27 year-old challenged current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Pereira, who popped up on his phone for a FaceTime call during his post-fight interview.

Along with his UFC credentials, Pereira’s a former GLORY Kickboxing Champion and has fought as a pro boxer only once, winning his debut back in 2017. Of course, there’s still a matter of Pereira being under UFC contract and all, having re-signed with the promotion ahead of his UFC 303 fight against Jiri Prochazka – pushing the Paul fight far from the realm of reality.

Daniel Cormier On Jake Paul’s Chances Against Alex Pereira

But, in a world where Alex Pereira vs. Jake Paul did happen, Daniel Cormier reckons the fantasy fight would be competitive for as long as Paul lasted against the power of “Poatan”, which more often that not, leaves his opponents unconscious.

“I don’t think for a second he would beat Alex, but think he’d be competitive for as long as it went,” Cormier said of Jake Paul vs. Alex Pereira on Good Guy / Bad Guy. “I know I’ve been hard on him, like you said, but I think he’d be competitive for as long as it went with Pereira. I don’t know that it would go five, six, seven rounds. I think Alex would ultimately hit him.”

DC On How Jake Paul “Tends To Shy Away” In Fights

Say what you what want about the level of competition he is facing, but Paul’s boxing has progressively gotten better with every fight he has taken. While Jake Paul’s been able to grow and evolve over his latest fights, Cormier still thinks the young Paul has got some work to do after seeing his last performance against Perry.

“I think some of Jake’s reaction still inside the boxing ring tell you that he’s still not quite the fighter that he thinks he is because in some cases, when he comes together with his opponents or if his opponents get very aggressive, he tends to shy away,” Cormier explained. “If you or me was ever in a fight and the pressure got heavy, we kind of went towards the fight, right? Jon Jones goes towards the fight. When you pressure him, he goes and he fights you. Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje, hell, most of the elite fighters in the world, when the fight comes to you, you go towards the fight.

“Jake still has to get through that initial [reaction]. He almost retreats because when Mike Perry was putting pressure on him Saturday, Jake was dipping his head, trying to grab him because he didn’t like how uncomfortable it got when it became a little messy.”

Cormier On Paul: “I Think He’s As Good As Any Young Boxer We Have”

Speaking of messy, Paul and Cormier had an altercation at a UFC event years ago to which Cormier (who was on commentary) nearly came to blows with the trash-talking Paul, but decided against it. While Paul is definitely not his favorite person in the world, former champ Cormier would give the influencer some props for his boxing where many others have not.

“But in terms of skills, I think he’s as good as any young boxer we have. And you know what? Why wouldn’t he be?” Cormier said of Paul. “This is a young man that’s truly committed himself to getting better. He is training with great trainers. He’s doing it full time. He’s living [in] Puerto Rico, putting together high-level training camps for these boxing matches. While I might seem like I don’t like the guy, I do like how committed he is to boxing, and I do like seeing the improvements that he has made inside the boxing ring.”