UFC President Dana White believes middleweight Alex Pereira may move up to the light heavyweight division following a knockout loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287.
Alex Pereira has long been known as an impossibly huge middleweight, but it seems his days at 185 pounds may soon be coming to an end. UFC President Dana White recently suggested that Pereira may make good on previous hints to move up a division to light heavyweight, following a knockout loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287. “I think that Pereira probably moves to 205 after this fight,” White said. “He’s a monster.”
Pereira’s knockout loss came as a result of well-placed punches while charging at Adesanya, his four-time opponent, in the main event of Saturday’s pay-per-view. This approach had previously brought him success when he stopped “The Last Stylebender” in the fifth round at UFC 281. However, this time around, Adesanya was prepared and countered effectively, leaving Pereira unconscious on the canvas in the second round. It was Adesanya’s first win over Pereira, who had beaten him twice in the kickboxing ring and once at UFC 281.
Despite the decisive outcome, White indicated that another issue for Pereira leading up to UFC 287 was the Brazilian’s weight cut. “I know that he had, he still had like two pounds to cut leading up to [the weigh-ins],” White said. “There was like an hour left at the end. I mean, I’m not saying he’s moving to 205, but I would assume he is. You guys can ask him himself, but it wouldn’t surprise me.” Unfortunately, Pereira didn’t appear at the post-fight press conference, making it impossible to confirm his plans at the time.
Pereira’s coach, Glover Teixeira, a former light heavyweight champion himself, has worked with Pereira since his move to the U.S. and hinted that the fighter’s future would indeed lie at 205 pounds. As for Adesanya, when asked about his intentions after UFC 287, he remained coy about his next opponent. Adesanya did, however, share some advice for his four-time foe, saying, “Go cause problems at 205, then f***, good luck to everybody else, because he’s a motherf***** to deal with. I’ll tell you that.”