Alex Pereira’s trash talk ahead of UFC 320 rematch is a good sign, says Hall of Famer

One MMA legend believes Alex Pereira’s rants ahead of UFC 320 are a good thing for “Poatan.”

Pereira will have a chance to regain the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship when he collides with Magomed Ankalaev in a rematch on Oct. 4. “Poatan” lost the 205-pound title to Ankalaev back in March at UFC 313. Pereira was moving backwards throughout the fight and ended up dropping a unanimous decision.

Ahead of the rematch, Pereira has been a lot more vocal in his trash talk towards Ankalaev. He even alleged that the light heavyweight champion was hiding from him at the UFC Performance Institute. During an interview with MMAJunkie.com, UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans explained why he thinks Pereira’s banter is actually a good sign.

“I love that,” Evans said. “I’m glad that he’s kind of reconnected to that savage part of himself. Because listen, this isn’t a nice contest. Yeah, it’s great, you can have respect for your opponent. But there has to be that part of you that is just an asshole, to say the least. You’ve got to be a savage in there. For him to tap back into that savagery, he’s going to need to do that. He’s going to need that. I’m glad he’s feeling that way, and I’m glad that he’s not liking him. Shake hands and be friends after the competition.”

As far as a prediction goes, Evans revealed why he thinks “Poatan” will get the job done.

“I’m going to go with Alex Pereira. I feel he’s going to make the adjustments. I’ve got a lot of faith in his team. I think (Glover) Teixeira and Plinio (Cruz) are very good at making the adjustments that they need to. Alex, when I seen him last, he seems to be really locked in to doing what he needs to do in camp without the distractions and really just making sure he gets the training partners he needs to get. Fight from that place that he knows if he fights from that, he can win.”

UFC 320 will take place inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The co-main event will feature a bantamweight title fight between champion Merab Dvalishvili and Cory Sandhagen. Be sure to stick with BJPenn.com for updates throughout fight week. On fight night, we’ll be providing live coverage of the pay-per-view event.