Michel Pereira Releases Statement: ‘You’ll See I Have Cardio to Fight Three Rounds’

Michel Pereira is out here doing gymnastics routines pic.twitter.com/8SJfsqb5N9

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 15, 2019

Michel Pereira’s first UFC defeat was a disappointing performance, as he appeared to gas out en route to suffering a unanimous decision defeat to Tristan Connelly in Vancouver on Saturday night.

To make matters worse, “Demolidor” missed weight prior to the bout, and he was criticized for attempting flashy moves and performing flips during the contest. After the fight, Pereira released a statement on Instagram and revealed he cut 38.5 pounds leading up to the fight.

“Guys, many bad things happened. I got tired but not because of the things I did, but for the huge weight cut I had. I cut 17.5kg [38.5 pounds] by myself, with no on else [to help], and dealing with the stress of helping with my cornerman’s visa who wasn’t there,” Pereira wrote. “Everyone else had someone to help, I was alone there. It’s not an excuse, but I know I’m a fighter that grows as rounds goes by, but I got tired since my body shut down in the beginning of the second round.

“I fight for you guys, to put on a show or you. Let’s support more and criticize less. I fight this way to make UFC more fun,” he continued. “Fighters today only think about winning and put on boring fights, and that’s why MMA is decreasing so much. I want to make my fans happy by watching my fights, but this time things happened and led to my defeat. I lost to myself. I will be back to do it even better. You’ll see I have cardio to fight three rounds no problem.”

Pereira won his promotional debut with a flying knee knockout of Danny Roberts. The 25-year-old Brazilian is 23-10 with two no contests over the course of his career.

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A post shared by Michel “Demolidor” Pereira (@michelpereiraufc) on Sep 15, 2019 at 4:09pm PDT