After more than a year on the sidelines, Michel Pereira will return to the Octagon against Stephen Thompson at UFC 291 on July 29.
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The Brazilian is not accustomed to such a lenghty layoff."Since I entered in UFC I´m used to fighting three times a year,” he told Sherdog.com. “Man, I’m living in Las Vegas with a high [cost of living]. I cannot go 15 months without fighting. But finally the UFC found a ranked oponent with the balls to face me.”
Pereira, who did part of his camp at Xtreme Couture, is especially excited at the stylistic matchup with “Wonderboy.”"I love to entertain the fans and when I face grapplers, they want to avoid my stand up game,” Pereira said. “I cannot show my new skills, [but] that will not happen with Stephen ‘Wonderboy.’ He is a karate black belt just like myself.”
Pereira is confident that their similar backgrounds will work in his favor.
"As a karate fighter, I know exactly what a karate fighter doesn’…