Dustin Poirier sees Alex Pereira exacting his revenge at UFC 320.
Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) is set to run things back with light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) in Saturday’s main event (pay-per-view, FX/ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Pereira lost his belt to Ankalaev by unanimous decision at UFC 313, a fight where he said he was only 40 percent of himself. Poirier still believes in Pereira’s knockout power being a game changer.
“Alex being an underdog in any fight, I think, is a good bet because this guy can change the fight at any moment,” Poirier told MMA Junkie. “I honestly think Alex is going to get his hand raised.”
Pereira, who was outstruck in his first fight against Ankalaev, is a +176 underdog, according to FanDuel. So what makes Poirier think he wins the rematch?
“He’s danced with this guy before, he wants that title back, and he wants to win,” Poirier said. “He wants revenge. He wants to show that wasn’t him in the last fight. There’s a lot of reasons why, and he’s too dangerous of a fighter to go in there and not find that shot this fight. I think it’s going to be a TKO or a KO inside the distance.”
