UFC star Kamaru Usman believes Alex Pereira is the number one male pound-for-pound fighter in the promotion right now.
Last weekend, the legend of Alex Pereira grew even further. He knocked out Khalil Rountree Jr to retain his UFC light heavyweight championship, taking him to 3-0 for the year in the promotion.
As you can imagine, there’s been a great deal of praise for the Brazilian in the immediate aftermath of his win. In fact, some even believe he has earned the right to be called the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.
During a recent episode of his podcast, Kamaru Usman weighed in and actually agreed with that idea.
Kamaru Usman backs Alex Pereira
“I have to admit when, and this is a part of being a man, you have to admit when you feel like you’ve made an error. And in the revelation lately, what I’ve come to is, I realized I’ve been judging Alex Pereira based on what I would be judged at. There’s a lot more men that weigh, walk around on this earth close to 170 to 185 pounds.”
“I think he is pound-for-pound king because of the way he’s able to fight. Not the way he’s able to fight but the way he’s able to make his opponents fight and the way he’s able to dispose of his opponents. I love Islam and his abilities, I think Islam of course has more tools in the shed but for what you have to work with, Alex Pereira I believe he’s the pound-for-pound.”
“I can’t be biased to the standard that I’m held to. The standard that Islam is held to because there’s a lot more men that weigh Islam’s size and my size than they do Alex Pereira’s size. So, with what Alex Pereira has to work with, he’s disposing of these guys that way so I have to give that to him.”