Alex Pereira offered perception into the heart-pounding moments that occurred within the postwar showdown following his epic first-round knockout victory over Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320. The Brazilian champion was captured on digital camera and advised his Portuguese opponent that he wouldn’t return to the tire store.
Why Alex Pereira advised his opponent he would not return to the tire store
At a postwar press convention at UFC 320, Pereira defined the motivation behind the assertion. The champions made this declaration to himself as a lot as his opponent, and made a private reminder of what’s at stake of their rematch. His account underscored the psychological significance of his working class background in selling his fight profession.
He defined:
“To remind you later, have you learnt? I used to be a bit accountable for remembering it as a result of when individuals requested me at this time how I turned the individual I used to be, I already mentioned it, and I mentioned, ‘I had no plan.’ And I mentioned I did not wish to return to the tire store.
Pereira’s tire store reference comes from his adolescence at Faberas, Brazil, the place he dropped out of center faculty and survived by varied handbook labor jobs. Certainly one of these positions was an area tire store, the place he spent a very long time putting in, balancing and repairing the tires for a minimal wage. This era of his life was characterised by important difficulties, together with the wrestle with alcoholism that he brazenly mentioned.
This remark gained extra context from a earlier encounter at UFC 313 in March. There, Ankaraev and his workforce laughed at Pereira’s working class background. Through the battle’s press convention, Ankaraev answered a reporter’s query about whether or not he would “ship Pereira again to the tire store,” saying it was as much as him as to if Pereira stayed in sports activities or returned to tire work. The change clearly received nervous by the Brazilian champion, who was visibly indignant at his impolite reference to his previous.
When explaining his showdown assertion at UFC 320, Pereira gained a deeper understanding of his pondering. He beforehand defined that his success got here from having no backup plans and never having a “Plan B” to resort to if the battle goes incorrect. For Pereira, it was both profitable as a fighter or returned to the bodily labor life he had earlier than. This all-or-nothing mentality was the driving drive behind his profession.
The Champion emphasised his tire store expertise, though difficult, is dedicated to growing the self-discipline and work ethic that led him to the success of the UFC. He has beforehand said that he owes appreciation debt in these tough early days, because the bodily calls for of the Tire work assist to construct his power and psychological toughness. However the prospect of returning to that life represents a failure in his coronary heart, making it a strong motivational software.
At a UFC 320 press convention, Pereira defined that he repeated the phrase to Ankaraev as a solution to give himself accountability to recollect why he was combating. The assertion served each as a declaration to his accomplice and as a private reminder of what he determined to keep away from.
