Tallison Teixeira has offered an inside look at Alex Pereira’s preparations for his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane at UFC White House on June 14 in Washington, DC.
Teixeira, a 6’7” heavyweight described as the tallest under contract with the UFC, has been one of Pereira’s main sparring partners for the matchup. The work took place in Danbury, Connecticut, where he trained alongside Pereira and former light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira.
“I’m sure I’ve never trained with another heavyweight who has hands as heavy as his,” Tallison Teixeira said. “He really hurts you wherever he lands. Even though I know none of the sparring sessions we had were for real, at 100 percent, wherever he puts his hands he starts breaking you down. He’s the kind of guy who suffocates you round after round. So the longer the fight goes, the harder it becomes. Man, I really think he’s coming to become the UFC’s first-ever triple champion.”
Teixeira is confident the clash between Pereira and Gane will not go the distance. “I don’t believe this fight goes to a decision,” he said. “I believe Alex has way more tools to get a knockout. Obviously, Gane is very good, a guy I respect a lot, one of the best strikers in the division — if not the best striker in the division —, but Alex is something different. He’s on another level. Only the people who are actually in there with him can truly feel the pressure and understand what it’s like. He’s a different kind of fighter. I believe he’s going there to knock Gane out, and I think he’ll get it done.”
Teixeira also prepared for his own bout at UFC Macau, where he lost to Sergei Pavlovich in China, while Pereira brings a resume that includes stoppages of Israel Adesanya, Magomed Ankalaev, Jiri Prochazka, Sean Strickland and Jamahal Hill. Pereira has scored 85% of his MMA wins by knockout, and Gane has finished nearly 70% of his victories by knockout or submission.
