Patrick Auger and Matthew Wells team up to answer the question: “Just how good is Michel Pereira?”
Is the Brazilian welterweight merely an entertaining fighter who will lie outside the UFC’s top 15 rankings? Or can he be a genuine contender in the UFC?
Wells says that although Pereira fights like a “maniac,” he clearly is very skillful and this allows him to be extremely comfortable inside the Octagon. His unpredictability has worked in his favor so far, but Wells wants to see Pereira matched against a tough wrestler before we start talking about whether Pereira deserves to be fighting ranked contenders.
Auger also states that he needs to see Pereira face a skilled wrestler or a technical striker before committing to a decision about Pereira’s potential.
For now, he believes that Michel Pereira could end up being a fringe top 15 guy in the UFC, but believes he has the rare opportunity to be a popular fighter without needing to enter the rankings. For this reason, Wells also believes that this could see the UFC start to give Pereira favorable matchups.
The UFC needs to build stars and get fans in front of their TVs and Pereira may definitely draw a new type of audience.
What do you think? Is Pereira skilled enough to hang with ranked welterweight fighters? Or will he remain outside the ranks for as long as his career lasts with the UFC?