MMA coach likens Alex Pereira's risky hands-down style to King Green's, talks UFC 335 Sergei Pavlovich fight

Alex Pereira is considered to be one of the greatest strikers to have ever graced the sport of MMA. "Poatan" notched the middleweight and light heavyweight titles in Glory Kickboxing. He also won the middleweight and light heavyweight belts in the UFC MMA organization. 

Nevertheless, Pereira has faced longstanding criticism over what some believe is a lack of defensive striking skills. A number of fans and experts have, over the years, advised him to correct his tendency to keep his hands low in his striking battles inside the Octagon. 

Legendary MMA coach Ray Longo has now chimed in and underscored that Pereira's aforementioned tendency could cost him in the heavyweight division. 

Ray Longo draws parallels between UFC 335 star Alex Pereira and King Green (fka Bobby Green)

Alex Pereira's latest MMA matchup was his UFC heavyweight divisional debut, which witnessed him get stopped via second-round TKO by Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 in June.

The win fetched Gane the interim UFC heavyweight championship, and after heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall recently vacated his title due to recurring eye injury issues, Gane was promoted to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. 

Currently, Gane is set to defend the UFC heavyweight belt against the unbeaten Josh Hokit at UFC 334 on November 14. Meanwhile, Pereira is scheduled to face former interim UFC heavyweight championship challenger Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on December 12. 

In an edition of the Anik & Florian Podcast, veteran MMA coach Ray Longo, UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik, and ex-UFC star Kenny Florian addressed the aforementioned upcoming fights. 

Longo alluded to Pereira's post-fight protests against the apparent back-of-the-head illegal strikes Gane landed, which the Brazilian fighter felt unfairly caused his eventual TKO loss. The coach suggested that even before that sequence of illegal strikes, Gane was handily beating Pereira. 

Insinuating that Pereira is naturally lighter than other longtime heavyweights, Longo stated:

"I love Alex. I really love him as a fighter... Forget the illegal shots. They were horrible. But I saw nothing before that that lets me believe that he could beat him (Ciryl Gane) in a rematch. I just saw the size difference, the way he was moving."

Addressing Pereira's oft-discussed defensive striking habits, he compared his risky hands-down fighting style to that of UFC lightweight King Green (fka Bobby Green). Longo said: 

"You know, Alex now is... It's like Bobby Green-esque. He's got the power, man. But he keeps his hands down. When you get with these bigger guys now, can he take the power coming back is the problem." 

Longo cited Pereira's sparring footage available in the public domain to indicate that "Poatan" is open to getting hit and isn't the most elusive striker, so to speak. 

Ray Longo feels Alex Pereira can't afford to get hit by Sergei Pavlovich

Ray Longo emphasized that Alex Pereira may have been able to absorb heavy strikes from middleweight (185-pound) and light heavyweight (205-pound) fighters, but his willingness to get hit to hit his opponents could prove to be his undoing in the heavyweight (265-pound) division. 

Longo said, "But I think that (Sergei Pavlovich) is going to be a tough fight, too. Because the way his (Alex Pereira's) style is, I don't think he can afford to get hit by these guys. At 185 (pounds), big difference. 250 (pounds)? I don't know, man." 

Watch Ray Longo address Alex Pereira's heavyweight run and upcoming fight against Sergei Pavlovich below (*comments at the 1:45-minute mark of the video):