Alex Pereira, Anthony Smith Bury the Hatchet During Sitdown Interview

Alex Pereira and Anthony Smith squash the
beef 🤝

🎥 @espnmma
#UFC
#MMA

#UFC307 pic.twitter.com/tIYQ2sfejd

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
September 30, 2024

Alex
Pereira and Anthony
Smith have finally squashed their beef.

The feud initially started when Smith, during his commentary
duties, claimed Pereira’s rapid rise to UFC success occurred
without having his grappling tested. “Poatan” felt Smith was
constantly downplaying his achievements whenever on the mic.

This led to a series of back and forths between the two, with
Pereira calling “Lionheart” washed up. Pereira was also in
attendance for Smith’s upset submission win over Vitor
Petrino at UFC 301
in Rio de Janeiro this past May. Pereira posted a video of himself pretending to nap as
Smith’s fight was about to start. “Poatan” also subsequently
challenged Smith to a $50,000 grappling match, which the latter
verbally accepted.

However, that never came to fruition and Pereira went on to defend
his light heavyweight title with a stoppage in a rematch against
Jiri
Prochazka at UFC 303
the next month. The Brazilian is now slated to defend his strap
against Khalil
Rountree Jr. in the main event at UFC 307
on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Leading up to the fight, Pereira sat down with Smith for an
interview, where they buried the hatchet. Pereira gifted Smith a
shirt from his brand, and “Lionheart” expressed gratitude and
sincere respect towards the champ and his team.

“Thank you for doing this and having the sitdown with me,” Smith
said. “Aside from the competitive rivalry, or whatever it was
before, I have a lot of respect for you. I’m a big fan of your
game. I love watching you fight. Best of luck here in Salt Lake
City, and I really appreciate you and your whole team.”

Smith seemingly approached Pereira’s mentor and coach, Glover
Teixiera to help squash the beef. Pereira has since felt no malice
or bitterness toward Smith and admits he is feeling better because
of that.

“I’m thankful to you for reaching out,” Pereira said. “Ever since
you spoke to Glover, I don’t think there’s any malice, there’s no
bitterness about the back and forths that we had. Today, I’m much
better, I feel really good.”

Smith is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Roman
Dolidze at UFC 303. He will next fight fellow veteran Dominick
Reyes at UFC 310
on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.