Coach Says Bruno Silva Has Surprises in Store for Alex Pereira: ‘It’s Not Kickboxing’

The UFC Fight Night 203middleweight clash between former M-1 Global champion Bruno Silva and ex-Glory two-division title holder Alex Pereira has the attention of the Brazilian fanbase, perhaps even more so than the card’s headlining bout between Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev.

Silva is coming off three consecutive TKO wins in the UFC, while Pereira impressed with a second-round flying knee stoppage of Andreas Michailidis in his Octagon debut in Madison Square Garden. Daniel Acacio, Silva’s coach, shared his thoughts on the matchup of knockout artists with Sherdog.com.

“It´s natural that after defeating [Israel] Adesanya two times in kickboxing and winning multiple titles in Glory, ‘Poatan’ is expected to be the future champion by most fans,” said Acacio a former Pride Fighting Championships competitor and the head trainer at Evolucao Thai.

“But people need to understand that MMA is not kickboxing and ‘Blindado’ will show him that on March 12.”

Acacio confirmed what Silva told Sherdog in a recent interview: The middleweight will not adjust his game plan just to face a decorated striker such as Pereira.

“There is no way Bruno changes his style against ‘Poatan,’” Acacio said. “He will always look for the knock out.”

Acacio added that Silva’s underdog status entering the bout has served to motivate him even more.

“’Poatan’ is the favorite just because seven years ago he defeated Adesanya in kickboxing rules. People must understand that it's a different sport,” Acacio said. “In MMA rules [Pereira] only has five fights and Silva has more than 30. Some of his northeast [Brazil] fights are not even in Sherdog records.”

A Black belt under legendary Luta-Livre master Eugenio Tadeu, Acacio made his MMA debut back in 2000 at Meca 1, which was promoted in Curitiba, Brazil, by Chute Boxe leader Rudimar Fedrigo. Thanks to his excellent takedown and submission techniques, Acacio was asked to fight in four other editions of the event. Later, he was invited to join the Chute Boxe team, where he evolved his striking abilities and helped teammates such as Wanderlei Silva, Murilo Rua, Anderson Silva and Mauricio Rua to improve their games.

Four years ago, Acacio retired with a 30-19-1 MMA record. In 2020, He was invited by Andre Dida, who moved to Florida, to take care of Evoluçao Thai in Curitiba.

“It´s being an amazing opportunity to train Silva and all the 35 professionals we have here. What impresses me about ‘Blindado’ is his Chute Boxe spirit,” Acacio said. “Anyone who fought in Russia knows how hard it is to take the belt from a tough local fighter in his hometown and [Silva] did that.”

Acacio is confident that Pereira won’t be fully prepared for all the skills Silva will bring to the Octagon for their clash.

“It’s definitely not easy to read his game,” Acacio said. “Besides his lion heart, he always surprises his sparring partners during training. And I have no doubt he will do the same with ‘Poatan.’”