Quemuel Ottoni, the only man to have defeated Alex Pereira in MMA, believes he could do it again in even quicker fashion.
In 2015, the then 3-0 Ottoni made easy work of now UFC middleweight champ Pereira when they met at Jungle Fight 82 in Brazil, submitting him in the third round with a rear-naked choke. The defeat came on Pereira’s MMA debut at a time when he was 13-4 as a professional kickboxer.
Pereira bounced back from the defeat by earning back-to-back knockout wins in the months thereafter. The Brazilian then achieved another knockout win in late 2020 before signing with the UFC the following year. Pereira has since strung together four consecutive wins to claim the middleweight title against his old kickboxing foe Israel Adesanya in November of this year.
Ottoni Says He Could Beat Pereira Quicker If They Fought Today
While Ottoni’s rise through the MMA ranks hasn’t been quite as meteoric as Pereira’s, the 12-3 Brazilian is now closer than ever to regaining a rematch with his compatriot after signing a four-fight contract with the PFL in November.
Ottoni of course still has a lot of work to do to meet Pereira in the UFC, but if he eventually does, the 30-year-old believes he can make light work of him yet again. In an interview with MMA Junkie, Ottoni said that the improvements he’s made to his game since their first encounter would simply be too much for Pereira, who he believes hasn’t really developed as a fighter.
“The one thing honestly I’d say is [Pereira] definitely got heavier…he built a bigger frame around him and redistributed weight in a better form, but I think that’s it really, I wouldn’t really put much else on his side,” said Ottoni. “I see his his jiu-jitsu as something limited and in saying that I’ll transition to myself…I feel like my jiu-jitsu has improved leaps and certain positions that I found myself in while fighting against him, I would have taken care of business much earlier if I was fighting him today. As well as my boxing, I feel like my boxing, my stand-up striking has improved a lot as well.”
Ottoni will fight for the first time in the United States when he takes part in the PFL’s Challenger Series on January 27. The Brazilian earned his place in the promotion after winning Jungle Fight’s vacant welterweight title with a third-round submission of Jose Diaz in May.
