New York, NY — Greek fighter Andreas Michailidis wisely returned to the middleweight division in his last fight, after a brief foray up to 205lbs in his UFC debut last year.
Back at 185lbs, Michailidis (13-4) earned his first win inside the octagon, a TKO of KB Bhullar back in May. That was enough to win him something of a bonus: a fight with debuting kickboxer Alex Pereira at UFC 268.
“It was a relief, the last win. Now I’m more than ready for this fight,” said Michalidis during Wednesday’s UFC 268 media day. “The Spartan” believes that with the win, he’s deserving of the opportunity being presented here — and it’s a big one.
Pereira is not just a world champion kickboxer, but the man who knocked out Israel Adesanya in the other sport. “I’m aware of it, because he’s a very well-known fighter. I knew him before I was participating in UFC,” Michailidis said of his opponent. “He’s a good fighter, but [this is] MMA, not kickboxing. He has to be aware of many things.”
Michailidis will, with that in mind, be looking to test Pereira’s ground game. “Of course, yeah. In MMA, even striking is different. Everything changes,” he said. “You have to be aware of the takedown, for punches, everything. Even his striking will not be the same as kickboxing.”
“I’ll try everything. I’ll try everywhere,” he added.
Watch the full UFC 268 media day appearance from Andreas Michailidis above. More coverage of the event can be found below. UFC 268 takes place Saturday November 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.
-
Colby Covington
-
Michael Chandler
-
Kamaru Usman
-
Justin Gaethje
-
Weili Zhang
-
Rose Namajunas
