“I saw some videos that broke my heart,” Brazilian Michel Pereira gets honest about walking out with Israel Flag amidst ongoing war

Michel Pereira made a powerful statement at UFC Fight Night 230 by holding the Israeli flag in support of friends during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I saw some videos that broke my heart,” Brazilian Michel Pereira gets honest about walking out with Israel Flag amidst ongoing war

Michel Pereira (Image via X/Michel Pereira)

Michel Pereira made his middleweight debut at UFC Fight Night 230 with a first-round victory over Andre Petroski. However, more than the victory, it was his walkout and post-fight speech that made the rounds on social media.

Pereira walked out holding the Israeli Flag. Moreover, he held the flag with him in his post-fight speech and post-fight press conference. When asked about his decision to walk with the flag, he said, “The decision was because of the war that’s happening in Israel. I have a lot of friends there.” He further added, “I saw some videos that broke my heart, I saw a little kid. when the kid woke up. starving. Now I have a baby. I have a kid at home. So, when I saw the video, it broke my heart.”

The recent news of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has resulted in many fighters taking sides.

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Many fans would argue that something more impressive than the walkout was his 66-second knockout of Andre Petroski in his middleweight debut. The former 15th ranked welterweight has had long-standing issues making 170lbs limit. He admitted that he used to cut north of 40lbs to make the weight. His weight miss at UFC 291 was the final nail in the coffin as the promotion was deadset on moving the Brazilian up in weight class.

Pereira was most recently scheduled to fight Stephen Thompson at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City. However, the bout was pulled off after Thompson refused to accept a catchweight bout after Pereira missed weight. Thompson once fought Darren Till who missed weight and lost a controversial decision. That served as a reminder for “Wonderboy” as he sternly refused to fight weight-missing opponents.

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Sean Strickland deserves the middleweight title according to Michel Periera

In the post-fight press conference of UFC Fight Night 230, Michel Pereira was asked about Sean Strickland winning the middleweight title. Pereira trains at Extreme Couture with Strickland. As such, Pereira had high praise for the middleweight champion.

Michel Pereira applauds Sean Strickland's win at UFC 293
Michel Pereira applauds Sean Strickland’s win at UFC 293 (Image via: Ringer)

“Demolidor” said that Strickland trains very hard and it is no surprise that he won the title. Moreover, he also credited Strickland with improving his cardio. Furthermore, he also added that one should be very diligent on defense when sparring with Strickland. Pereira continued by saying he should be in the rankings of the division by referencing his win streak at welterweight and his quick knockout at middleweight.

Pereira was on a five-fight win streak at welterweight. He reeled off 5 consecutive victories after a 1-2 record in 3 fights. Moreover, Pereira is a fan favorite fighter as evidenced by 3 Fight of the Night and 2 Performance of the Night bonuses in only 9 bouts with the promotion.

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