Michel Pereira determined to 'finish and kill' vs. Marco Tulio at UFC Fight Night 257
Now a full-time resident in Nevada and training at Xtreme Couture, Pereira (30-13 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is pursuing growth in all areas of life as he prepares to step back in the octagon with Tulio (14-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) for a middleweight bout on the Aug. 23 card at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai (ESPN+).
"I'm very excited for this fight," Pereira told MMA Junkie Radio in English. "I train every day. I eat good. I'm very strong. My training is good and I'm very excited."
After going on an eight-fight winning streak under the UFC banner, Pereira has now lost consecutive fights against Anthony Hernandez and Abus Magomedov where his grappling defense was exposed.
He's worked diligently to shore up his holes, and as such made some shifts. Excitement is in his DNA, though, and Pereira said he's not going to show up fighting with a different identity.
"I think my plan is different than last fight," Pereira said. "I trained very good now. It's better I don't talk about this. My fans will like this plan. I have 43 fights, so for me it's my style. It's easy. I train every day and in the fight I'm the same. My style is the same. There's no pressure."
No matter what tactical changes are made, Pereira said his mission remains the same: Defeat Tulio in the most highlight-reel fashion possible.
"This fight, I can finish and kill," Pereira said. "Marco Tulio is a good strikes. He's my friend. He's a good guy, a Brazilian guy. But it's my work. Let's go with one big show and knock out Marco Tulio."
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