Michel Pereira ditched his flips and crazy antics and instead the Brazilian stayed technical in order to win a unanimous decision over Khaos Williams at UFC Vegas 17.
While the fight was a back-and-forth battle throughout, Pereira did a good job avoiding Williams’ considerable knockout power as he countered with kicks and some late takedowns to secure the victory. The judges all scored the fight 29-28 as Pereira notched his second win in a row overall.
“I’m an athlete to dances to any song,” Pereira said following the win. “If I need to stay up an entire fight. If I need to stay on the ground the entire time, I will, too.”
Knowing the kind of power behind his opponent’s punches, Pereira was a little more cautious than usual but he still managed to throw out a Superman punch off the cage and a couple of lightning quick front kicks. In response, Williams was just waiting for the right kind of opening to unleash his punches and it came midway through the opening round when he caught a kick from Pereira before launching a huge left-right combination.
Pereira ate the punch effectively but he was definitely aware of Williams’ power from that single exchange.
As the fight continued, Pereira was a little more active on his feet but he wasn’t producing a whole lot of offense while Williams was confident in his counter strikes. Williams did attempt to surge forward at one point to overwhelm Pereira with punches but the Brazilian avoided taking too much damage.
Just before the second round ended, Pereira returned the favor with an aggressive attack and he actually grabbed onto a rear-naked choke during a scramble but time ran out before he could secure the submission.
A razor-close fight through two rounds left both fighters in a tough position heading into the final five minutes and Pereira opted to turn to his takedowns in an attempt to sway the decision to his favor. Eventually, Pereira managed to bring Williams down to the mat a couple of times and that appeared to be enough to get the job done.
After picking up a second straight win in the octagon, Pereira turned his attention to a former champion when calling for his next fight.
“I want Anthony Pettis,” Pereira shouted. “Anthony Pettis, you win, I win. Go fight. Two weeks, three weeks, [let’s] go Anthony Pettis.”