Alex Pereira is making his UFC Light Heavyweight debut this weekend, and he’s taking on a former champion, Jan Blachowicz. “Poatan” is one of the best kickboxers on the planet, but his wrestling is nowhere near Blachowicz’s level. So, which style of fighting will prevail in the UFC 291 co-main event? Let’s see!

Jan Blachowicz vs. Alex Pereira Odds

*Odds taken from FanDuel on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.

When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah
• Date: Saturday, July 29
• Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
• How to Watch: PPV

Jan Blachowicz to Outwrestle Pereira?

Jan Blachowicz is a well-rounded fighter with a 29-9-1 record in his professional MMA career, which started more than 16 years ago. He’s got nine wins by KO/TKO in his portfolio, and as many submission wins. Further, he’s got 11 wins by decision. When it comes to his losses, two happened by knockout, two by submission, and five by decision.

The Polish fighter also has one draw in his portfolio, which happened in his most recent fight. It was the fight for the title against Magomed Ankalaev, which finished in a split draw (one of the judges scored for Ankalaev).

Blachowicz is famously tough as nails, with incredible power. He also has a background in judo, which is something he might decide to use on Saturday. The thing is that he’s a much better wrestler than Pereira, so taking him down shouldn’t be much of a problem. The big question here is whether he can get to Pereira who’s bound to throw a huge volume of kicks and punches his way.

Alex Pereira Hoping to Outstrike Blachowicz

Alex Pereira is a former kickboxing world champion, who’s 7-2 since switching to MMA. In the UFC, he’s 4-1, with his only loss happening in April to Israel Adesanya who KO-ed him in the fight for the title. It was a middleweight fight, the same as all of Pereira’s previous UFC fights.

This time, however, he’s fighting in the light heavyweight division, which could be a problem for the Brazilian. The thing is that despite having the skills and incredible speed, he might not have the power to fight such big guys as Blachowicz.

Plus, what we saw from him in the middleweight fights against skilful wrestlers, “Poatan” might be heading toward disaster. He’s suffered five TDs so far in his UFC career, which actually is a big number considering that he’s fought mainly strikers. In fact, two of those five UFC fights were against Adesanya, who previously had no TDs recorded.

Jan Blachowicz vs. Alex Pereira Prediction

Pereira is a level above Blachowicz in terms of kickboxing, but we doubt he’s got enough power to finish the Polish fighter. But what about the other way around? We think this scenario might play out. Blachowicz has the skills and the power needed to take Pereira down, where we might see him win by ground and pound.

Pick: Blachowicz to win by KO/TKO

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