Alex Pereira’s loss at UFC 313 appears to limit options for fighting in other weight classes.
Before facing Magomed Ankalaev at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 8th, there was a rumble about moving to heavyweight for a potential matchup with Jon Jones or middleweight for a clash with Dricus du Plessis.
After the Brazilian abandoned his crown to Ankaraev with a unanimous decision loss, UFC CEO Dana White quickly closed the possibility of a superfight against Jones. Meanwhile, UFC 185-pound champion Du Plessis also appears to have lost interest in the showdown with the Brazilian.
“I would like to thank Ankaraev for having the biggest payday of my life,” Duplesis said on Jackson O’Docherty’s video blog. “That’s not personal.”
Feelings were totally different after Duplesis’ victory over Israeli Adesanya at UFC 305 when Pereira hinted at his final return to the middleweight division shortly after. Duplesis was skeptical that “Poitan” could return to 185 pounds, but he expressed interest in future light heavyweight matches against the former glorious kickboxing champion.
“There’s no need to lose weight, so there’s some excuse,” Duplesis said at a postwar press conference at a UFC 305 press conference. “I’ll come up with it later [Sean] Battle of Strickland. I’ll come up until 205 and sort it out there. ”
Du Plessis defeated Strickland in a rematch at UFC 312Khamzat Chimaev, but will be the next obstacle for the South African champion. As for Pereira, he appears to be targeting a rematch with Ankaraev. Even if Pereira could even score against Ankaraev, the fight against the Brazilians would not have the same appeal to Duplesis.
“No. My aura’s gone,” Duplesis said.
