“$50,000 if I…” – Alex Pereira places massive bet on himself amid Brendan Schaub saying he has no chance against Khamzat Chimaev

“$50,000 if I…” – Alex Pereira places massive bet on himself amid Brendan Schaub saying he has no chance against Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev, Alex Pereira and Brendan Schaub [Image Courtesy - talkSPORT (L), New York Post (C) and OK Magazine (R)

Alex Pereira is the name on everyone’s lips – not only did he beat Israel Adesanya in emphatic fashion, but he also had to dig extremely deep to snatch the win.

Now that he is the champion, a whole landscape of opportunity opens up for the 35-year-old, who made his debut in the promotion just a year back. There had been many naysayers of the two-division Glory kickboxing champion, including Sean Strickland. Undoubtedly, however, he has managed to shut them all up.

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Someone else who doubted, and a to a degree, still doubts him, is Brendan Schaub, who said in his YouTube video that Pereira “can’t defeat a single middleweight guy in the top 5” and that “Khamzat [Chimaev] beats the sh*t out of him”. He is the champion for a reason, and in fitting fashion, he responded to the fighter turned comic’s harsh summation of his abilities.

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He said to Ariel Helwani, “Not a problem for me. Brendan Schaub, I think he was running his mouth. Brendan talked a lot of crap that Chimaev would run me over and blah, blah, blah. He said Chimaev would be able to take me down in 30 seconds.” Instead, he proposed a novel wager – “I’ll fight Chimaev in Rio at 205 and I propose a bet to Schaub. He’s running his mouth — $50,000 if I beat Chimaev… Also, $50,000 more that I don’t get taken down in 30 seconds and we double those $50,000 to donate for the charity, too.”

Related- Alex Pereira ALLEGES Khamzat Chimaev turned down mega-fight in Brazil; Chimaev swiftly responds

Brendan Schaub respectfully clarifies his comments about Alex Pereira’s chances against Khamzat Chimaev

Alex Pereira and Khamzat Chimaev [Image Courtesy - CNN (L) and The Sun (R)]
Alex Pereira and Khamzat Chimaev [Image Courtesy – CNN (L) and The Sun (R)]

Brendan Schaub’s words might seem exceptionally harsh, given that Alex Pereira is the champion, and Schaub doesn’t fight in the octagon anymore. However, he clarified on Twitter that he meant no disrespect. His tweet read, “I’m in. Let’s do 100k. Zero disrespect to the Champ. Amazing fighter. I just like the match up for @KChimaev.”

That being said, could Schaub have a point here? In their match-up, apart from the end of the first round where Adesanya had Pereira severely rocked, his key to success came by way of the Brazilian’s inexperience on the ground. Israel Adesanya is no grappler – yet, he has spent five years in the UFC now, and has had time to hone his ground game.

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If a Khamzat Chimaev-Alex Pereira is eventually made by the UFC, fans will be in for a treat! Although Pereira is by far the more efficient striker, the truth is that Chimaev is still somewhat untested. Despite that, fans should expect the Swede to give the Brazilian a hard time on the ground, which is where he really excels.

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