Kamaru Usman shares high praise for UFC Vegas 9 winner Michel Pereira

Kamaru Usman praised Michel Pereira for his performance at UFC Vegas 9.

The UFC welterweight champion was paying close attention to the action in Las Vegas, which took place on Saturday. Usman was on analyst duties for the ESPN+ broadcast, which is when he commended Pereira on his submission victory against Zelim Imadaev.

“I loved everything that I saw from him because he proved to everybody, our bosses, and myself included, that he can be a full complete fighter,” Usman said on the show. “I mean, everything was spectacular –  his awareness, his cage awareness, the way he was moving, the way he was setting up those traps moving side-to-side and then landing those big shots. It was a spectacular performance from him.

“I think this is a guy that’s looking to get paired up against someone big in the future, the near future,” Usman added.

Pereira showed restraint and control against Imadaev which allowed him to wear his opponent down. But glimmers of his unorthodox and wild fighting style shined through, as he peppered in a mixture of open-palmed slaps and other unconventional strikes. He landed 88 of 153 significant strikes, achieving 57 percent accuracy while Imadaev went 23 for 90, a 25 percent rate.

After sealing the victory ‘Demolidor’ called out Jorge Masvidal in a post-fight interview

“Jorge Masvidal, be ready,” he said.

“I want to fight the best,” Pereira added. “I train very hard to do that and I train with some of the best. I want to fight the best and Jorge Masvidal is one of them. He’s a guy that I want to fight against. I think people would find it to be a great fight, a big fight, and it would give a show to all the UFC fans and the world.”

However, it appears UFC president Dana White has his sights set on a Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz rematch, so it is unlikely that Pereira will get his hands on the “BMF” winner any time soon.

Who would you like to see Michel Pereira face next?