With Marc-Andre Barriault forced to withdraw from this weekend’s UFC Vegas 81, it was Andre Petroski stepping in on short-notice against the always entertaining Michel Pereira.
Petroski had been a smashing success since entering the UFC, while Pereira had had his ups and downs, and was moving to middleweight after struggling to make a massive weight cut to 170. How massive? A full 46lbs, he revealed during Fight Week.
How prepared Petroski would be coming in on such short notice was always going to be a question. He certainly wasn’t prepared for the storm that met him off the opening bell.
The first round started with Pereira landing a nice body kick to the body followed by a huge left hand to drop Petroski. From there, “Demolidor” moved in and finished him with ground and pound! Michel Pereira was noticeably big and fast with the move up to middleweight where he seems to have found himself a home. And if there were questions about his cardio before, well, the fight didn’t really answer them — it was over too quick — but one assumes it will be better without a 46lb weight cut.
This was a big bounce back for the Brazilian after missing weight for his last scheduled fight against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
Official Result: Michel Pereira def. Andre Petroski by TKO (punches), Round 1, 1:06
