Flyweight: Luciano Pereira vs. Felipe dos Santos
Tale of the Tape
22-years-old
5’3″
Salto, Uruguay
Combate Vilamir
13-1
8 KO/TKOs, 3 Submissions
Combined opponent’s record: 18-13
22-years-old
5’7″
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Chute Boxe Diego Lima
7-0, 1 NC
2 KO/TKOs, 3 Submissions
Combined opponent’s record: 19-6
Pros and Cons
Luciano Pereira
Pros
- Heavy hands
- Explosive
- Fast starter
- Good ground and pound
- Forward pressure
- Dangerous in exchanges
Cons
- Gives up his back easily
- TDD needs some work
Felipe dos Santos
Pros
- Excellent muay thai
- Nasty elbows/knees
- Credible wrestling
- Good bodywork
- Solid jiu-jitsu
- Durable
- Gets better as the fight goes
- Nice long jab
- Chopping leg kicks
- Frequent high pace
- Good right cross
- Scrambles well
- Good off his back
Cons
- Poor TDD
- Head movement lacks
- Takes a lot of damage
Who has the advantage?
Striking: Santos
Speed: Pereira
Output/Volume: Santos
Kickboxing: Santos
Striking defense: Pereira
Footwork/movement: Santos
Wrestling: Santos
Grappling: Santos
Gas tank: Santos
Prediction: What a banger this fight is bound to be. We have the savage Muay Thai striker Santos and the heavy-handed bomb dropper in Perreira. Although both have decent ground games I foresee this fight playing out on the feet. Pereira is coming off a loss but it was a DQ due to an illegal knee. Santos is coming off a FOTY contender last year against Hugo Paiva.
The question for both fighters is if Santos can take a power shot from Pereira and if Pereira has that dog in him like Santos. Santos may have not fought someone with the punching power of Pereira but he’s proven to be very durable. Pereira hasn’t had to stand and trade long because he’s either finishing quickly or defending on the mat.
This could easily be the fight of the entire DWCS season. I expect both guys to just throw down looking to sleep one another. I’m picking Santos because he has more striking tools than just hands. He’s beaten way better guys and has shown the ability to dig deep and excel when the fight gets tough. I love both guys, I love the fight, I love the violence both guys are going to provide. I’m picking Santos by decision.
