Could Prime Gustafsson have beaten Alex Pereira?

[achoo42]

There can only be one Alex at LHW. How do you see this fight going?

 

[13Seconds]

Yes prime Gus had great MMA wrestling.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

Prime Gus gave Jones one of his toughest fights ever so I would say its definitely possible

 

[Liverkick-king56]

Standing I think Pereira has a massive advantage at range but the thing about Gus is he's great at forcing and winning wars like Jiri he reminds me of a technical brawler like prime Matt Brown despite most fans praising his boxing I think his best work came in gritty fights. DC was outstriking Gus pretty handily before he ate the massive knee in the clinch and when the fight got ugly Gus had momentum.

Gus was able to grapple against Manuwa and Jan so he could have success against Pereira with it on paper with takedowns and implement a more success brawl strategy than Jiri was able to. Gus could use his jab and cross at range and potentially shoot when things got dicey forcing a tentative Pereira.


Both men have paths to victory but I (obviously super biased) like the footwork of Pereira to slow down the fight enough to keep it at a simmer until his leg kicks, jab and left hook have found their reads and are ready for him to float in and out of range punishing Gus. Gus is always a knee away from taking over the fight since his clinch was sneaky enough to crack DC but I'd pick Pereira by decision just based on his ability to dismantle other pressure strikers like Jiri, Jan and Strickland

 

[Conor Strickland]

Would've been interesting. Pereira gets the ko imo. Gus was kinda chinny tbh

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

He beat jones so it’s possible but styles make fights. Periera is a better striker than jones and has one punch ko power

 

[13Seconds]

Would've been interesting. Pereira gets the ko imo. Gus was kinda chinny tbh

Was he chinny though? It took Rumble alot of shots to take him out of there.

 

[User9992]

Yes. He was better boxer of the two.

 

[Portland8242]

Gustaffson had some weirdly good wrestling when he needed it.

 

[surgeyou1]

Yeah. Probably would have had to mix up with some TDs to keep Alex P on his back foot


Crazy they are the same age. Gus really fell off a cliff.

 

[Istryker]

Yeah. Probably would have had to mix up with some TDs to keep Alex P on his back foot


Crazy they are the same age. Gus really fell off a cliff.

He went through a lot of MMA wars and brutal fights with all time legends.

 

[marvinparsons]

I don't think that is a great matchup for Gus. He's hittable and Pereira only needs one good shot, unlike Jones. And I don't think Gus is putting Pereira to sleep, so over the course of 5 rounds I think he gets knocked out. If Jan couldn't wrestlefuck Perreira, then I'm not sure Gus could have done it for 5 rounds.

Nightmare matchup for Alex is DC, Jones, maybe Glover. I think Rumble is a tougher fight for Perreira than Gus.

 

[Striker Fox]

If Jan couldn't wrestlefuck Perreira, then I'm not sure Gus could have done it for 5 rounds.

Bro, Gus took down Jan 4 times, and DC, Jones, Glover. Gus has far better wrestling than Jan Lol

Jan was absolutely gassed for 2/3 of his fight with Alex because he wasn't acclimated, and would've won if he only had the energy to work from the top after he took Alex down, like he did against Adesanya.

Prime Gus would absolutely maul Pereira and it's not even close.

 

[Bwagster]

Rumble vs Pereira would have been a fun fight.

 

[Striker Fox]

Rumble vs Pereira would have been a fun fight.

Rumble would KO or wrestlefuck Alex no question

 

[Frank Kain]

Yes, absolutely.

 

[Frank Kain]

Rumble would KO or wrestlefuck Alex no question

Him too…still pissed we didn’t see Jones and him fight.

 

[Jonesisinnocent]

Gustafson easy.

 

[chardog]

gus would get knocked out, too much power from poatan, too durable.

 

[Thesnake101]

Was he chinny though? It took Rumble alot of shots to take him out of there.

Yeah, Gus wasn't chinny. Defense sucked though, so I don't doubt Alex would hurt him on the feet eventually.

I think Gus would resort to his wrestling, and given the guys he took down, I think he'd be able to control Alex enough to win a decision.