- Alex Pereira is prioritizing a run for the light heavyweight title after his successful debut at 205
- “Poatan” ensures that he will go back to middleweight for a third showdown with Israel Adesanya
Alex Pereira did not fail to live up to the hype of his light heavyweight debut by securing a split decision win over former 205-pound king Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291. As expected, “Poatan” laid out his plan to conquer the light heavyweight division and then come back for a trilogy match with Israel Adesanya.
Feeling good at 205
Speaking to the media in his post-fight press conference, Pereira opened up about how easier it has been for him to not deal with the tedious weight cuts now that he is already a 205-poinder. However, the Brazilian still sees himself coming back down to middleweight in the future.
“I told the [my team] guys that I was going to take a break from the weight class for now. It was getting hard a little bit, making weight in a short span of time. So I went up to light heavyweight now. I want to do one more fight at light heavyweight, take some time from all those cuts, and then I actually want to fight in the lower weight class again, middleweight,” Pereira said through a translator.
BY SPLT DECISION!!@AlexPereiraUFC takes a CLOSE one over Blachowicz at #UFC291! pic.twitter.com/cWEOMioYTu
— UFC (@ufc) July 30, 2023
205 now, unfinished business later
While his focus is on the light heavyweight belt at the moment, Pereira also guarantees that he will reclaim his middleweight throne by pushing for a rubber match with Adesanya, to whom he lost his belt in their rematch at UFC 287.
“Be patient because I will show it all soon. My focus is always the belt. Now I want to fight for the belt, it doesn’t matter against who. Right now, I’m focused on this [light heavyweight] division. I want to be a champion in this division and then I’ve got some business to solve [at middleweight]. Because in my mind we [me and Izzy] are 1-1 at middleweight. I won one at middleweight, Israel won the other one, so nothing more fair than making the trilogy at middleweight,” Poatan pointed out.
Having heard Pereira’s sentiments, it’s clear that he is laser-focused on becoming a two-division champ and he hasn’t moved on from his rivalry with Adesanya yet. However, it would all depend on how things would play out when Izzy defends his title against Dricus du Plessis in a title fight that is likely to headline UFC 293.
