{"id":38936,"date":"2026-06-22T15:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Pedro-Rizzo-Loss-of-reach-advantage-biggest-issue-for-Alex-Pereira-at-heavyweight-201606"},"modified":"2026-06-22T15:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:37:14","slug":"pedro-rizzo-loss-of-reach-advantage-biggest-issue-for-alex-pereira-at-heavyweight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/pedro-rizzo-loss-of-reach-advantage-biggest-issue-for-alex-pereira-at-heavyweight\/","title":{"rendered":"Pedro Rizzo: Loss of reach advantage biggest issue for Alex Pereira at heavyweight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Pedro
\nRizzo<\/a> has some thoughts about Alex
\nPereira<\/a>\u2019s unsuccessful heavyweight debut.<\/p>\n

Considered one of the most agressive strikers in
\nUFC<\/a> heavyweight history, Rizzo spoke with Sherdog.com about the
\nco-main event of
\nUFC White House<\/a>, when Pereira was knocked out by Ciryl Gane<\/a>
\nin the second round.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Rizzo revealed that he tabbed \u201cPoatan\u201d as favorite before the
\nfight. In his opinion, the weight gain weight was not the problem
\nfor Brazilian.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary issue, in my opinion, was the loss of reach
\nadvantage,\u201d Rizzo said. \u201cAlex is too tall for middleweights and
\nlight heavyweights, and he lost that advantage at heavyweight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The finishing sequence made Rizzo recall another famous heavyweight
\nfight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever I see a southpaw knocking down a right hander with a
\ncounter jab, it reminds me of Fedor [Emelianenko\u2019s] fight with
\nMatt
\nMitrione<\/a>, which, by the way, was a very similar move to this
\none with \u2018Poatan\u2019 and in exactly the same circumstances: The right
\nhander not stepping outside and the southpaw’s lead hand landing
\nfirst. Against a southpaw, the right hander always has to step
\noutside and get their head out of the line of the strike, otherwise
\nyou’re faced with a counter jab. I posted a video on my Instagram
\ncomparing both finishes, and you can see that both Fedor and
\n\u2018Poatan\u2019 did exactly the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean Controversy<\/h2>\n

Regarding Pereira’s complaints about illegal strikes, Rizzo
\nacknowledged that referee Herb Dean<\/a> made
\na mistake. However, he also recognized the complexity of the
\nsituation, especially considering the speed of the action and the
\nfact that Gane\u2019s initial strikes were legal.<\/p>\n

\u201cUndoubtedly there were some illegal strikes in the whole sequence,
\nbut it’s difficult to say that it influenced the final result of
\nthe fight,\u201d Rizzo said. \u201cIn a barrage of punches, if one lands on
\nthe back of the neck it’s difficult to stop, but if there were
\nmore, Herb
\nDean<\/a> should have followed the rules and stopped, called
\nattention to the situation and restarted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebounding from Defeat<\/h2>\n

With the experience of having fought for the UFC heavyweight belt
\non three occasions (once against Kevin
\nRandleman<\/a> and twice against Randy
\nCouture<\/a>) and having faced all the greatest heavyweight
\ngrapplers of his generation, Rizzo believes \u201cPoatan\u201d has an
\nexcellent opportunity to rebound.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe arrived at an excellent time for his style, where most fighters
\nare strikers. In my time, I didn’t have that freedom to impose my
\nstand-up game, since I faced the greatest generation of heavy
\nwrestlers and grapplers in UFC history,\u201d Rizzo said. \u201cI fought
\nSevern, Randleman, Coleman, Barnett, Couture twice. I still believe
\nthat \u2018Poatan\u2019 is the greatest striker in MMA today. I would like to
\nsee an immediate rematch. I still think that on a normal day he
\nwill knock out Gane.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/blockquote>\n

<\/center> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pedro Rizzo has some thoughts about Alex Pereira\u2019s unsuccessful heavyweight debut. Considered one of the most agressive strikers in UFC heavyweight history, Rizzo spoke with Sherdog.com about the co-main event of UFC White House, when Pereira was knocked out by Ciryl Gane in the second round. Advertisement Rizzo revealed that he tabbed \u201cPoatan\u201d as favorite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}