Credit:Getty/UFC
The
UFC Fight Night 203middleweight clash between former M-1 Global
champion Bruno Silva
and ex-Glory two-division title holder Alex
Pereira has the attention of the Brazilian fanbase, perhaps
even more so than the card’s headlining bout between Thiago
Santos and Magomed
Ankalaev.
Silva is coming off three consecutive TKO wins in the UFC, while
Pereira impressed with a second-round flying knee stoppage of
Andreas
Michailidis in his Octagon debut in Madison Square Garden.
Daniel
Acacio, Silva’s coach, shared his thoughts on the matchup of
knockout artists with Sherdog.com.
“It´s natural that after defeating [Israel] Adesanya two times in
kickboxing and winning multiple titles in Glory, ‘Poatan’ is
expected to be the future champion by most fans,” said Acacio a
former Pride Fighting Championships competitor and the head trainer
at Evolucao Thai.
“But people need to understand that MMA is not kickboxing and
‘Blindado’ will show him that on March 12.”
Acacio confirmed what Silva told Sherdog in a recent interview: The
middleweight will not adjust his game plan just to face a decorated
striker such as Pereira.
“There is no way Bruno changes his style against ‘Poatan,’” Acacio
said. “He will always look for the knock out.”
Acacio added that Silva’s underdog status entering the bout has
served to motivate him even more.
“’Poatan’ is the favorite just because seven years ago he defeated
Adesanya in kickboxing rules. People must understand that it’s a
different sport,” Acacio said. “In MMA rules [Pereira] only has
five fights and Silva has more than 30. Some of his northeast
[Brazil] fights are not even in Sherdog records.”
A Black belt under legendary Luta-Livre master Eugenio
Tadeu, Acacio made his MMA debut back in 2000 at Meca 1, which
was promoted in Curitiba, Brazil, by Chute Boxe leader Rudimar
Fedrigo. Thanks to his excellent takedown and submission
techniques, Acacio was asked to fight in four other editions of the
event. Later, he was invited to join the Chute Boxe team, where he
evolved his striking abilities and helped teammates such as
Wanderlei
Silva, Murilo Rua,
Anderson
Silva and Mauricio Rua
to improve their games.
Four years ago, Acacio retired with a 30-19-1 MMA record. In 2020,
He was invited by Andre Dida, who moved to Florida, to take care of
Evoluçao Thai in Curitiba.
“It´s being an amazing opportunity to train Silva and all the 35
professionals we have here. What impresses me about ‘Blindado’ is
his Chute Boxe spirit,” Acacio said. “Anyone who fought in Russia
knows how hard it is to take the belt from a tough local fighter in
his hometown and [Silva] did that.”
Acacio is confident that Pereira won’t be fully prepared for all
the skills Silva will bring to the Octagon for their clash.
“It’s definitely not easy to read his game,” Acacio said. “Besides
his lion heart, he always surprises his sparring partners during
training. And I have no doubt he will do the same with
‘Poatan.’”