Morning Report: Daniel Cormier credits Glover Teixeira for Alex Pereira’s comeback win at UFC 281: ‘I think the key was Glover’

Daniel Cormier says Glover Teixeira was instrumental in Alex Pereira becoming the new middleweight champion.

On Saturday, Pereira faced Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 281, and through 20 minutes, things were not going great for the challenger. Though Pereira had his moments, he was nearly finished in the first round and was clearly down on the scorecards heading into the final round. Pereira’s corner told him as much and so, with five minutes left, “Poatan” came out with everything he had, clipping Adesanya midway through the final round and unloading a barrage of punches that caused referee Marc Goddard to intervene. It was a tremendous comeback victory for Pereira and one that Cormier puts down to the coach Glover Teixeira being honest with his fighter.

“I think the key was Glover Teixeira and his team letting Alex Pereira know, very sternly, ‘If you want to be the champion, you’ve got five minutes. You’ve got to lay it all out there.’ And that’s exactly what he did,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “He went out there and threw caution to the wind. Generally, we don’t see guys press Adesanya that much, because the danger in him countering is so great that they don’t want to risk it. Well tonight, Pereira knew that if he didn’t risk it, he was going to lose the fight, and he got the job done in round five.”

But while Pereira’s comeback has mostly been praised, it was not without some controversy. Because Goddard stopped the fight while Adesanya was still on his feet, some, including Adesanya, protested the stoppage as too early. But Cormier isn’t having any of that.

“There are people guys, people in the know, who said, ‘I’m not sure I love the stoppage.’ Doesn’t matter. That was a great stoppage, because there’s nothing worse than being finished in a fight,” Cormier said. “Because your body and your mind tells you, ‘Grab him, slow him down, give yourself an opportunity,’ but there’s nothing you can do. Your body fails you. You start flailing. We’ve never seen Israel Adesanya with his hands down, taking shots like that. It would have only gotten worse. So I do love the stoppage. It was a just stoppage. It should have happened because it was only going to get worse. This guy hits too hard. You don’t want to take unnecessary damage from Alex Pereira because he hits so hard.

“And also knowing you’re going to get an immediate rematch. I know it sucks to lose the belt, but the longterm damage Adesanya would have taken by just getting put to sleep, he might not recover from that. Especially from a guy that’s done it to you twice.”

Regardless, Pereira is now the middleweight champion of the world, and did so in only his eighth professional MMA bout. It’s a remarkable accomplishment and one that Cormier says shows just how good Teixeira and the team he’s working with are.

“Now Alex Pereira is the middleweight champion with only four fights in the UFC,” Cormier said. “Glover Teixeira fights next month for the championship and guys, that little gym in Connecticut may have two UFC champions. That’s what tells you, it’s not about the big gym as much as it used to be. It’s about putting yourself in a situation where you can be successful, and that’s exactly what Glover and them are doing right now.”

Results. Alex Pereira and Weili Zhang became new champions at UFC 281.

Stoppage. Israel Adesanya: ‘I was fine’ when UFC 281 main event was stopped, ‘bring back Steve Mazzagatti.’

Rematch. Dana White on booking Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya in immediate rematch: ‘I wouldn’t rule it out.’

Beef. Dustin Poirier calls Michael Chandler a ‘dirty motherf*****’ for multiple fouls.

Altercation. Nate Diaz, Dillon Danis separated, bystander slapped in altercation outside MSG at UFC 281.

Interim. Yair Rodriguez vs. Josh Emmett set for interim featherweight title fight at UFC 284.

Boxing. John Fury rips off T-shirt, Tommy Fury rages after Jake Paul relentlessly heckles exhibition.

RIP. Two-time UFC title challenger Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson dead at 38.

UFC 281 Post Show.

UFC 281 Post-Fight Press Conference.

UFC 282 trailer.

Floyd Mayweather’s ridiculous boxing exhibition.

On To The Next One. Matches to make following UFC 281.

Condolences.

Call out.

Strange but maybe true.

Top athletes in the world, and they’ve gotta do this.

Left out.

Beef.

Jake Paul.

Thanks for reading! See y’all tomorrow.

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