Alex Pereira made fans concerned about his upcoming fight against Magomed Ankalaev after he bumped into Canadian rapper Aubrey ‘Drake’ Graham during a concert in Australia. The fans fear that he might get ‘cursed’ by the songwriter, which has infamously affected many fighters and athletes in the past. UFC legend Daniel Cormier recently addressed the situation with Pereira, sharing the same gloomy sentiment as the rest of the MMA community.

Yes, Drake has often placed his money on UFC fighters, and while he’s won occasionally, the rapper has a record of losing more often. This translates into the fighters he picks, losing the fight as well. Of course, Daniel Cormier claimed that Pereira may not have made the wisest decision by meeting the supposedly ‘cursed’ Drake in Sydney just weeks ahead of his UFC 313 title defense.

“He [Alex Pereira] will fight anybody anytime but… we spoke about this two weeks ago, and now my concern level is even higher. This dude was seen in Australia last week still and he was shaking the hand of Drake as Drake went on stage for his concert,” Daniel Cormier stated on the ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ show.“One, Drake constantly loses millions of dollars betting on people. So, you kind of don’t want Drake to bet on you because he doesn’t have the greatest track record for winning.”

The second and the more legitimate cause of concern for Cormier is that it’s been over a week since the 205lbs champ cornered Sean Strickland down there in Australia. ‘DC’ already sounded off on ‘Poatan’ for risking training time for the Ankalaev fight before the Brazilian headed to the land down under.

But the fact that the light heavyweight champion is still occupied with everything but training and seems to show no worries about fighting the wrestling-heavy Dagestan native is what concerns Cormier the most. “But what is Pereira still doing in Australia, Chael? He fights in two weeks,” the Hall of Famer told his co-host, Chael Sonnen.

But why is the former double champ worried about Alex Pereira being in Australia? After all, he could train down there like he had in the past. Well, ‘DC’ claims that he might need time for adjustment.

Daniel Cormier suggests Alex Pereira gets ‘locked in’

Khabib Nurmagomedov had mentioned previously in the past that his team takes a lot of care to avoid going inside the Octagon while feeling jetlagged. Fighters need to travel around so it does take a toll on the body. And this was exactly what ‘The Eagle’ claimed Justin Gaethje‘s condition was like when he fought him at UFC 254. Cormier has advised Pereira to keep this in mind as he prepares for his fourth title defense because Ankalaev is by no means someone to be underestimated.

“I don’t care that Pereira’s got weeks to get ready, he’s going to be ready and going to be prepared, but even those two to three extra days when he’s adjusting his clock to get back on schedule in Connecticut,” Daniel Cormier added. “He’s going to have to deal with all that travel and all that difference in time… Pereira better get home. He needs to get home and lock in because he does have the hardest fight of his title reign at this point.”

Alex Pereira has proved again and again that he can handle his business inside the Octagon just fine. But is he taking a risk and giving Magomed Ankalaev a chance to capitalize on enjoying his time instead of training? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.