UFC Vegas 55: Chidi Njokuani Open To Fighting Alex Pereira In The Future

Las Vegas, NV — When high-level kickboxers make their way over to the UFC, it tends to be special. Many that have had ample success, and two of them finally got to the UFC in 2021. With that said, Chidi Njokuani hopes to fight Alex Pereira down the road.

“Yeah, that’d be dope. I got a lot of respect for him because he has made a name for himself in the kickboxing world, and that’s not easy to do either,” Njokuani (21-7, 1NC) told Cageside Press during Wednesday’s UFC Vegas 55 media day. “So, it’d be dope did I test my skills down against somebody else of that type of caliber without having to go back to kickboxing to do it. I’d probably shoot for a double leg or something.”

Pereira is a little bit more up the rankings at the moment, and with a win in his next fight, he could be challenging for a title. But a match-up with Njokuani would be incredible as well.

Njokuani is coming off a 16-second knockout in his UFC debut. The road to get there was a long one for the 33-year-old fighter. Hardcore MMA fans have known about Njokuani for a long time, following stints with Bellator and RFA. When he finally got to the UFC, the emotions were high.

“It’s crazy. Just going into this, it didn’t feel like it was just about me. My brother [Anthony] was in the UFC for a while, so it also felt like I was continuing something that he started. So it was just a little more than just a fight for me. It was dope, and it was nice to have him in my corner. I don’t know; it is hard to explain, but it was a crazy feeling,” Njokuani said.

Carrying on the Njokuani name is very important for Chidi.

“It’s really important. It’s real, real important. Because I know what we’re capable of doing. Everything’s just starting to come together, like the training is starting to come together and how serious I’m taking it,” Njokuani said. To see what [Anthony] started and for me to understand that if I just put in a little bit more work, I can probably take this a little further. Then I can go back and rub it in his face and say, ‘you see what I did.'”

Watch the rest of Chidi Njokuani’s UFC Vegas 55 media day interview above. Njokuani faces Dusko Todorovic on the main card of UFC Vegas 55.