Why Did Alex Pereira Challenge Anthony Smith? Story Behind the UFC Star’s $50K Grappling Beef

Alex Pereira has made a name for himself in the realm of mixed martial arts with his strong kicks and punches. Being a striker, the man with stone hands has often found it difficult to handle moments when his opponent tries to take the fight to the ground. Even his very first defeat in the MMA world came because of grappling as he lost to Qyemuel Ottoni via a rear naked choke at Jungle Fight B2, back in 2015. But now, the Brazilian has decided to face his shortcomings and go against Anthony Smith in a grappling bout.

Without a doubt, the entire world went into shock as the ‘Poatan’ issued a challenge to ‘Lionheart’. Soon after the challenge was issued, Smith accepted it. But why did Pereira wish to have a grappling bout with one of the strongest grapplers in the MMA world? Let’s find out.

Alex Pereira issues $50,000 grappling challenge, Anthony Smith accepts

Even though he has proven himself in two different divisions in the UFC, Pereira was greatly criticized by Smith. The base of it all was, of course, Pereira’s apparent inability to grapple with his opponents. However, to prove his worth once again, the Brazilian decided to send a challenge to Smith’s way. He put a hefty amount of $50 thousand on the line. 

In an interview with ‘Connect Cast’, the man with hands of stone announced, “I let him take my back with hooks in and give him five minutes to finish me. We can bet. He said I’d win a $50k bonus, he said it was a sure thing. So, if he sees me saying this here, I want him to accept.”

‘Poatan’ further added that he would have only 5 minutes to get back to his feet. If he stands up within the said time, Smith would have to pay him $50 thousand. And if the fight goes any other way, the Brazilian would be the one to pay his opponent in cash. As soon as the challenge was up, Smith saw it as nothing but an opportunity to earn some heavy money.

After he came victorious over Vitor Petrino at UFC 301 with a guillotine choke in the very first round, Smith agreed to take on the challenge. Talking MMA Fighting, he said, “Alex Pereira said he would put up 50k, but I could start on his back and I got five minutes to finish him, and he wants to put 50k up for it. I’ll take his 50k, yeah, I’ll take his money. If I start on his back, I’ll choke the sh** out of him, 100%.” Now, let’s shift our focus to the origin story of this $50 thousand feud.

How did the ‘Pereira vs. Smith’ beef start?

While the fight fans seemed to think that the beef between Pereira and Smith rose all of a sudden, the Brazilian mixed martial artist took to the set of Ariel Helwani’s podcast, ‘The MMA Hour’, to reveal the story of the origin of the beef between him and Smith. The LHW champion recalled how Smith had always dissed him from the very beginning. No matter who his opponent was, be it Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva, Sean Strickland, or even Israel Adesanya, Smith, with his job as a commentator never seemed to give Pereira the credit he deserved.

With the help of a translator, the LHW champ said, “The issue is, he has his job with the UFC commentating. He’s got to do what he’s got to do, but we feel that since the beginning, he gives me no credit.” He continued, “It’s always something going on that Anthony doesn’t give me the proper credit that I deserve. He kind of hates on me a little bit, instead of going, ‘OK, in the beginning, I was wrong. I thought the guy would not get that fight. I was wrong.’ But it’s always something else to discredit me for everything, and that’s why the beef is there.”

Speaking his mind about the Brazilian, Smith indeed seemed to think that his fights were pretty one-dimensional. He claimed that Pereira had a limited set of skills. Even though he admitted that the champ was dangerous as an opponent, ‘Lionheart’ deemed his skillset as mediocre. But with the grappling bout, the combat sports community will finally see how far ‘Poatan’ has come.

Who do you think will win the prize money in the grappling challenge? Will Pereira be able to overcome his shortcomings and be able to successfully outwrestle Smith within the given 5 minutes? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.