{"id":401241,"date":"2024-06-09T02:01:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-09T02:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=401241"},"modified":"2024-06-09T03:07:33","modified_gmt":"2024-06-09T03:07:33","slug":"inside-ufc-champs-surprise-aussie-preparation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=401241","title":{"rendered":"Inside UFC champ's surprise Aussie preparation"},"content":{"rendered":"

U\ufeffFC<\/a> light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has begun preparations for his next world title defence – and he's made a surprise stop in Australia to kick it off.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old, who has emerged as one of the sport's best pound-for-pound fighters, recently knocked out Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC 300<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pereira is expected to take on former rival Jiri Prochazka\ufeff later this year, with the UFC 305 pay-per-view event in Perth looming as a potential destination.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Maxwell's classic reply as Aussies pump Ashes foes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Simply amazing' Swiatek clinches third-straight French title<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Umpire controversy mars drought-breaking Roos win<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Alongside world-renowned coach Plinio Cruz and other members of his team, Pereira touched down in Sydney this past week and has been mixing it up with the Aussies.<\/p>\n

Footage emerged over the weekend of Pereira in a sparring session with fan-favourite Tai Tuivasa<\/a>, potentially preparing the Brazilian for a touted move to heavyweight.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChampRDS\/status\/1799097995813912919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

On Saturday morning, Pereira made the trip out to Sydney's west, going through an intense high-altitude workout at Air Locker Training's Rouse Hill gym<\/a>. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Pereira and Cruz ran through a boxing and endurance session with a host of fans and athletes, including ex-NRL stars Curtis Scott and Pat Richards.<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to Wide World Of Sports, rugby league star \ufeffturned fitness guru Sandor Earl spoke highly of Pereira's work and how important it was for the bruising UFC monster to evolve his game Down Under.<\/p>\n

"It's massive – when you get someone like Alex Pereira in, how special is that? He's out in the west of Sydney, mixing it up and boxing, it's a cool moment," he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"Alex talks about the last time he came here a year ago, his next fight was in Utah – altitude is a big thing. They fight at a lot of events with altitude and for him to come in here and experience it … it's such a cool moment.<\/p>\n

"He really enjoys it, he's a great guy and his coach is awesome. It was a really cool experience. That's a testament to him, he's a double UFC champion and he comes in here, very welcoming to everyone and very respectful and happy to interact.<\/p>\n

"And to see him on the pads – I've never seen anything like it in my life. Imagine getting hit with that with four-ounce gloves."<\/p>\n

Pereira (10-2) only made the jump to MMA \ufefffull-time a few years ago and has already won belts in two separate weight classes, including a huge win over Israel Adesanya<\/a>, and many smart judges believe he has what it takes to dominate at heavyweight.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\ufeff"I don't see anyone stopping him," Earl said.<\/p>\n

"If you look at the guys he's fighting, some of the light-heavyweight guys, they're gonna try to stand up and trade with him and that's not going to be a good result.<\/p>\n

"I'd love to see him go up. If he can do that, the GOAT chat is really underway."<\/p>\n

Pereira's next fight is expected to be announced in the coming weeks by the UFC, with a rematch against Prochazka the likely bout to be made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U\ufeffFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has begun preparations for his next world title defence – and he's made a surprise stop in Australia to kick […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":401246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401241"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=401241"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":401257,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401241\/revisions\/401257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/401246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=401241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=401241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=401241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}