Alex Pereira has made waves by expressing his desire to return to the middleweight division.
Pereira will defend his light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree in the main event of UFC 307 on October 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Brazilian had expressed interest in moving down to middleweight after Dorricus du Plessis successfully defended his title against Israel Adesanya last month at UFC 305. Pereira recently revealed that after his fight with Rountree, he has decided to drop down to 185 pounds regardless of the outcome.
“I’m focused and preparing for my next fight, but you never know what’s going to happen, so whatever the outcome, I want to move down to middleweight again and get a shot at the belt,” Pereira wrote on Instagram. “Dorikus, I want you to be willing to fight me and prove that you’re better than me. With your public statement this will be easy to achieve. Chama.”
Widely considered a legitimate light heavyweight title challenger is Magomed Ankalaev, who faces Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi on October 26. Ankalaev and Pereira have been in a heated exchange of recent times over Pereira’s claims that the Russian champion turned down a title fight, and Pereira’s decision to move down to middleweight was bound to invite a response from Ankalaev.
“You are so weak [Alex Pereira]”You only target fighters in lower weight classes and think you can win. The people are not stupid. There is a reason why you are fighting Halilhodzic and not me,” Ankalaev wrote to X.
You are so weak @Alex PereiraUFC
You only attack people below you and think you can beat them. People are not stupid. There is a reason why you are fighting Halilhodzic and not me. https://t.co/8rhBH18kre
— Magomed Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM)
September 3, 2024
Meanwhile, du Plessis’ coach, Morne Visser, was initially interested in fighting Pereira, but only at middleweight. However, it seems the middleweight champion is ready to defend his title against Pereira. Duplessis has vocally expressed interest in the idea, but also in good humor. Pereira’s former rival and now friend, Sean Strickland, bounced back from a close split decision title loss to du Plessis with a win over Paulo Costa and is adamantly waiting for a title fight at 185 pounds. “Stillnox” has suggested Pereira settle the issue of a title fight domestically with “boyfriend” Strickland.
“[Alex Pereira] With you [your] boyfriend [Sean Strickland] Domestic disputes can arise over who goes to bed first,” du Plessis wrote.
@Alex PereiraUFC
You and your boyfriend Follow
Sometimes it becomes a family dispute over who goes to bed first.
— Dricus du Plessis (@dricusduplessis)
September 3, 2024
Meanwhile, UFC CEO Dana White seems to like the idea of Pereira being able to move up or down as he wishes, with White appreciating the range of options Pereira’s potential move would bring to matchmaking.
“He’s really mean, that’s the way I look at it,” White said at Tuesday’s post-Contender Series press conference. “He wants to go up, he wants to go down … that’s why everybody loves him. That’s the type of fighter that everybody loves. Pereira wants to fight everybody, I like that … It also gives you a lot of options when it comes to matchmaking, ‘Should I do this or should I do that?’ … With a guy like him, it’s a good problem to have.”
