Brendan Schaub on Joe Rogan’s “sanctioned cheating” comments surrounding Alex Pereira’s weight cutting: “I wouldn’t call it cheating”
Brendan Schaub doesn’t support Joe Rogan’s claim that Alex Pereira’s drastic weight-cutting is “sanctioned cheating”.
On The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan spoke to Steve-O about Pereira’s revelation that he was 220 pounds on fight day. That is a 35-pound gain in weight between weigh-ins and fight night.
“He could have been, yeah,” Rogan said. “He certainly gets above that between fights and he has a hard time making 185. It’s a bull***t thing. It’s basically sanctioned cheating. It really is, but everybody does it.” (h/t MMAMania)
Rogan believes constant weight-cutting can lead to problems for Pereira. He says his big size difference compared to other middleweights can actually hinder his abilities inside the octagon.
“He’s so big for the weight class, which really wears you out, that weight cut,” Rogan said “It’s a big weight cut and with wrestling, he’s going to have issues because he’s not a grappler. That’s not his forte. He’s getting better at grappling, but when [Israel Adesanya] takes you to the ground and…controls you, that’s not his forte either.”
At UFC 281, Israel Adesanya, who is known as an elite striker, showcased his wrestling against Pereira. He secured the first takedown in his UFC career and had more control time compared to his opponent.
Brendan Schaub Doesn’t Agree With Joe Rogan
On his podcast, Schaub spoke about Rogan’s comments. He disagrees with the long-time UFC commentator and believes Pereira’s weight difference can actually give him an upper hand in a five-round fight.”
“It can be an advantage. Especially if you’re good at it,” Schaub said. “I wouldn’t call it cheating. They literally weighed the same on the scale, and then he balloons back up. That’s what makes Pereira kind of special. He can cut that weight and still have cardio for five rounds.”
Pereira defeated long-time rival Adesanya for the middleweight title. It seemed that Adesanya was going to win until the final round. In comeback fashion, Pereira pressured the former champion against the fence and threw vicious combinations to end the fight. The comeback victory was similar to their 2017 kickboxing match. Pereira now has an MMA and two kickboxing victories over Adesanya.
