UFC great puts Alex Pereira on Floyd Mayweather’s level

Glover Teixeira calls Alex Pereira best boxer in UFC

Speaking on the Coach and the Causal podcast, Teixeira explained his comparison of Pereira to Mayweather, and who he ranks as his No. 2 best boxer in the UFC.

"Alex [Pereira is the best boxer in the UFC]," Teixeira said. "... Great punchers like Topuria have incredible combinations, but I feel like --- [Topuria] can be top-two.

"Because Alex has the eyes, the movement he makes [is] almost like Mayweather, Pacquiao. . . . If you ask me right now, Alex [is the greatest boxer in the UFC.]"

Of course, as Pereira's coach, Teixeira has some bias. 'Poatan' last fought in a losing effort to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, where Ankalaev outboxed Pereira for most of the fight. Pereira's defensive style relies heavily on reactions and slips, and he has been knocked out in the Octagon before.

Undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk is open to fighting Pereira in the ring, but historically this hasn't gone well for MMA fighters. Fighters like Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz --- who were hailed for their boxing in MMA --- dropped fights to influencer-boxer Jake Paul.

The only glimmer of hope fans had was Francis Ngannou almost beating then-lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in his professional debut. However, Anthony Joshua quickly finished Ngannou in his next fight.

Overall, the argument of the best boxer in the UFC is a fairly redundant one, since the sole point of the sport is to blend martial arts.