This past Friday, Power Slap 10 took place in Las Vegas, drawing attention with UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira attending the night of slap fighting.
Pereira, the UFC’s biggest active star, has been in Las Vegas for over a week during Fighters Only’s annual World MMA Awards.
The champion, known as ‘Poatan,’ was honored with the ‘Fighter of the Year’ award, acknowledging his remarkable year as the 205lb UFC champion, during which he successfully defended his title three times at major events.
During his stay in Las Vegas, the 37-year-old decided to attend Power Slap 10, with the main event featuring a heavyweight title fight between Damien Dibbell and Dorian Perez.
Dibbell managed to retain his title after what was described as a grueling five-round fight, yet Pereira seemed unimpressed with the spectacle.
The UFC Europe account on X captured Pereira’s stern reaction as he watched without revealing much emotion on his face.
When asked on camera, “Chama or no chama?” Pereira broke character slightly, laughed, and replied, “No chama.”
Power Slap has sparked controversy not only among the UFC fanbase but also among many fighters, who question its legitimacy as a sport, despite Dana White’s continuous efforts to promote it.
White has even claimed that Power Slap could surpass the UFC in popularity, likening its early criticisms to those faced by the UFC itself.
Pereira is currently enjoying a well-deserved break from the Octagon, likely gearing up to defend his title against Russian contender Magomed Ankalaev.
Despite this, he has teased a desire to fight Jon Jones next, although that matchup seems improbable at this time.
Acknowledging that Ankalaev is next in line, Pereira has expressed his intention to make things “more difficult” for the Russian fighter, recognizing their upcoming clash.
“It seems to be (next) but I don’t know. It doesn’t depend on only me. But as I had already said, I was going to make things a little more difficult for him… Not out of fear, because everyone knows who I’ve faced,” Pereira stated in an interview with MMA Junkie.
“I’m not afraid to fight him. But I would like to make things a little more difficult for him just because of the lies told,” he added.
Recently, Pereira had a run-in with former opponent, ‘Sweetdreams’ Hill, who claimed his previous knockout loss was unfair due to an untimely stoppage by referee Herb Dean.
At the UFC Performance Institute, Hill attempted to confront Pereira while he was training, but he seemed unprepared for Pereira’s response: pulling out a spare pair of gloves and offering to fight right then and there.
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