Stream UFC 303 on ESPN+ https://plus.espn.com/ufc/ppv Brett Okamoto joins Dustin Poirer and Daniel Cormier to discuss the …
Breton what can you say about the connection that these two have both inside the fight game and certainly outside of it Well you certainly saw it there in that video and my mind goes back to his title fight with Israel aagna and and Glover ran in there and said enough is enough you got to knock this guy out it’s a fifth round you got five minutes to become a champion this is a close fight and Alex really listened to that man Alex has actually watched that speech again and and just to tell Glover man you really know how to draw the best out of me and I also think you just you spend a lot of time grappling with a guy like Glover tar that’s going to help you out a lot I mean this has surprised a lot of people in the sport that Alex Bea was able to come in with no grappling experience and be able to rise to the top so fast I mean his team has told me that that’s part of the reason why this guy can’t fight at middleweight anymore because when you’re rolling with a guy like Glover toer you’re just getting so much stronger you’re weighing more so I think just from a technical standpoint it has done him so much yeah and this guy’s a great fighter and there’s no doubt he would have been a superstar regardless of ever meeting Glover just the kind of guy he is but when you have a guy like Glover who’s been around so long a former world champion been doing Jiu-Jitsu his whole life you just close those gaps at such a quicker rate being under that kind of Tage man you’ve had mentors DC uh probably many of them but what does it mean to have a partner like that when you’re trying to go for your own greatness to link up with somebody who’s been there why Kain Velasquez exactly right I had a guy that I can look at and go well he’s been there I know he knows what to do to get there so you follow him but for Alex Pereira it was a matter of finding a person that you can build your weakest area with so because he C couldn’t wrestle because he couldn’t grapple having Glover on him showed him what it would feel like to be in there with the best Grapplers because when Glover won the championship and he beat yam bovich it was his smothering wrestling and his grappling that allowed him to do so so he’ll never feel anything worse in grappling at 205 than when he’s under Glo toera in the training room there’s there’s one thing Alex does very well he doesn’t grappled though I want to talk to you guys about that as we go on he’s not grappling he anti-g grapples and I’ll explain it to you Fitz because I’m pretty sure you don’t know what that means Champion DUS Dustin knows Dustin knows you know what it’s like to have a mentor in the fight game as well I do one that comes to mind right off bat is is Robbie Lawler he came to American top team this might have been 2012 13 he was on a rough patch in his career you know people kind of writing writing him off and I saw him come in put in the work and become a world champion right in front of my eyes training alongside him and when I saw that I knew I can do it it gave me something in my mind and heart I said this can be done I watched you do it he let me Corner him when he fought um Johnny Hendrick and I I I just saw it be become a reality and I’m still chasing that and I believe I can and we all do who were in the gym at that time cuz we saw it happen there’s something you get a rub from that so so much of what you’re talking about is uh is trust right and and fights are chaotic you know things go wrong in fights and you got to have the trust that that who your eyes outside of the Octagon are are giving you the right kind of information and that comes obviously from the time spent outside of the octagon and it comes from the training I mean I really go back to the training like for Alex petta to have had this much success this quickly you got to have a few breaks you got to have a few things go your way you got to have a few things line up it just so happened that this guy they’re two big Brazilians Glover toera he’s one of the strongest Grapplers the light heavyweight division has ever seen and to have that in the gym day in and day out in Danbury Connecticut it’s like DC said I know what I’m going to see I know what I’m going to see in the Octagon I have the confidence these guys want to take me down and I know what that feels like coming from Glover to and you could be the next big thing when you’re on your way into the UFC but living up to it and surpassing all that hype is a whole different ball game Alex POA gets an A+ for that this will be his ninth UFC fight his fifth in a title this weekend just staggering numbers for Alex poon peda and somebody who knows a lot about fighting Superstars over the decades Teddy Atlas you have seen them what do you remember thinking when you saw and started taking note of Alex P power knock out you know don’t go to the refrigerator you know anytime you can say don’t go to the refrigerator it’s probably a guy you want to watch you know it probably has you right there hooked in and the other thing is the stare the look Sunny Lon George Foreman Mike Tyson you know those guys right yeah they they all had that that look the it’s the look of Dr Doom and the realization behind it that it’s doomsday that that comes to because it matches up with what you’ve seen it matches up with the action in the ring it matches up with the damage that you’ve already know about and then you see that and you feel that you’re like this real this is really Dr Doom and this I hope it’s not Doom’s day yeah so much so that Yu praska claims the spirits are with him when he’s fighting did you see Wild did you see your prashka accusing him of using spirits to his Advantage it’s the craziest thing when you let me tell you something I would I’m from Louisiana and we believe in Voodoo listen I ain’t got no Voodoo like Alex perea guys there’s one thing to have a person that can fight there’s another thing to have a guy that carries an aura about him the moment he got here Joe Rogan could not speak highly enough of his kickboxing skills he has the double knee knockout then he goes he gets wrestled in his second match but still finds a way to win title fight losing to Izzy knocks him out and it was all systems goal he said yes at every turn he knocked everybody out that he fought it’s not just about having power it’s about delivering when you get the opportunity to put that power on display Alex per has done that time and time again and that now makes him such a massive start this guy has now headlined New York City twice he has headlined UFC 300 and now he’s headlining International fight week and his appeal is much bigger than he ever could have anticipated Dustin this guy is next level he definitely is and coming in here with the he was a champion in kickboxing before he got here to the UFC and when he came in here he walked around with his chest out like he was the champion and then he delivered and I see this guy in the arena sometimes walking around with a a a vest on with no shirt underneath the gold chain he’s confident and he’s stoic when he gets in there and that’s fun as a fan to watch that’s why we are attracted to that you know what’s crazy is that Izzy had a signus to blame if Izzy would have just kept his mouth shut this dude was in a bar in living his life drinking he said I thank Israel atna for making taking shots at me remember Izzy was the man Iz he said well there’s a guy in Brazil that beat me twice in kickboxing and he’s going to beat a guy that is in the bar telling his friends I used to beat him perea goes it’s time for me to start doing MMA woke up asleep a giant crazy but he pulled that yarn Teddy masterfully right he had that history with the champion that’s what got him in and certainly gave him the path but he’s delivered yeah he sure has like like these guys just said you know it’s one thing to have the goods it’s another thing to show the GLS every time you get into the ring or in this case into the cage I always talk about it’s one thing to have power but it’s another thing to have the delivery system as DC just touched on before to get it across you know Cato of my mentor he was a great boxing guy he used to always tell me Teddy and it’s a little funny but it’s it’s right to the point he used say teddy power is like having a military weapon you know it has no value unless you have a missile to get it to the Target otherwise it’s just going to blow up and make a big hole in the ground and when it rains everyone can go swimming yeah you know it doesn’t rain when Pereira fights it’s thunder and lightning sure is you know he he delivers he delivers with and it’s not only with the left H it’s with the kicks he sets them up with those that’s your business I know that but I mean that that again to your point Dustin he brings that kickboxing confidence and abilities with the kicks and of course the Striking is he the face of the UFC Dustin at this point what does he need to do to be recognized at that I think he’s could be pretty close to it he’s headlining International fight week he goes out there and and knocks this guy out again I mean everybody’s talking about him right you know I think when when you’re trying to have that as your title right cuz we have seen so many great guys and women that elevate themselves to be thought of as the biggest star in the company this man here because of his consistency because of his activity because of the time he spends in the Octagon is why people respect him look Conor McGregor will always be the biggest starter UFC has ever seen But Conor McGregor doesn’t fight anymore it’s this guy right here and it’s this guy because this guy shows up and this you never can appreciate anyone that is not here right this guy’s always here so you can never Tak him for granted you will you will miss the days that Alex Pere is not the champion anymore because he fights so frequently no Champions guys fight as much as this guy Teddy when I was the champion Teddy I fought once or twice a year when you go to chase that belt you’ll fight three times a year just to get there fight once or twice once you get it Alex per does not live by those same rules not only fights but fights anybody anybody see that’s the thing you know that I mean it’s enough that yeah say yes put my hand yes but we used to have a fight there was a fighter my favorite fighter um Henry Armstrong he had 200 fights I mean in never that’s never going to exist anymore fought everybody and he had the greatest fight name of all time all time homicide Hank now those guys were tough guys back in those days they didn’t care they just said where how much and where right but when you got a phone call saying you’re fighting him you say okay no problem uh who yeah yeah how much where okay and who how much TI that click click that that was the only time you got guys that actually hung up the phone and it’s kind of like perea’s that way where the opposite where he never he never says no to whoever the name is you know you could come up with any name and it’s yeah he’s there and you know he has to be good you know he has to be going to a special air a special realm when he’s got a solid really tremendous fighter like Jerry talking about spirits yes yeah that’s crazy I mean once you go there once you got a guy going there you say this this guy is taking it to another place we see what kind of spirits he could summon on International fight Week DC you’ve headlined this show in dramatic fashion getting that heavyweight belt becoming a double Champion what does it mean to headline this event Midsummer it’s awesome man when you’re in the UFC there are certain dates that you want to fight on you want to fight Madison Square Garden you want to fight International fight week they used to have a fight at the beginning of the year in January you want to be there Super Bowl weekend you want to fight on the big cards I was able to do those and it means more than anything cuz people come from all around the world to experience this weekend because of the ufcx and everything else which tomorrow guys chayla and I will be doing our show at ufcx don’t miss it but I mean there are just so many reasons why you want to fight this weekend one quick point on per before we move on okay I was talking to him the other day and he said to me he goes and Teddy spoke about the stair right he said to me he goes I can always feel when they break he goes they talk a lot and he goes but the moment when I’m right in their face I can feel it change and I think that’s what Y is talking about he’s saying oh he’s calling the spirits this guy doesn’t he doesn’t blink MH it’s so scary to watch him whenever he’s just standing he does this that’s right and he just stares him down and everybody fight is doing stuff like this let’s go let’s fight let’s and he’s like okay [Applause] [Music]