Chael Sonnen doesn’t like the idea of Alex Pereira jumping the light heavyweight queue for a title fight with Jamahal Hill.
After surrendering the UFC middleweight championship to former titleholder and longtime rival Israel Adesanya at UFC 287, Alex Pereira is ready for a change of scenery. With a fresh batch of top ten contenders and a champion ripe for the picking, ‘Poatan’ announced that he will be heading to the land of the light heavyweights for his next outing inside the Octagon.
However, that doesn’t mean a potential trilogy fight with ‘The Last Stylebender’ is out of the question. Alex Pereira has mastered the art of cutting down to 185 and considering their 1-1 stalemate under the UFC banner, Pereira is more than confident that he would walk directly into a middleweight championship rematch. The Brazilian boogeyman made that abundantly clear while making the announcement that his next fight would be at 205. He also delivered what Chael Sonnen believes to be a threat aimed at the new middleweight king, saying that he would continue to “watch and monitor” the behavior of Israel Adesanya.
“That’s a threat. That is a straight threat,” Sonnen during the latest episode of Beyond the Fight on YouTube. “‘I am gonna watch and monitor his behavior.’ He then furthered this thought to say, ‘I am not going to 205 because I can’t make 185. I can make 185. There’s just nothing left for me.’ So when you put all that together, he believes he can get the fight, he can make the weight, and then he says he’s going to monitor his behavior. That’s a threat and that’s interesting to me.”
Alex Pereira announced his next fight will be at 205.
It seems he already knows who his next opponent will be, but will also announce this at a later date. #UFCKansasCity#MMATwitter pic.twitter.com/F5q1izfyW7— munchnews (@MUNCHmma) April 13, 2023
Chael Sonnen Believes Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill Would Be a Tough Sell
Given his status as a former UFC champion, many are suggesting that Alex Pereira could jump right into a title fight with reigning 205-pound champion Jamahal Hill. Chael Sonnen isn’t necessarily a fan of the idea, suggesting that both fighters lack the personality and showmanship outside of the Octagon in order to properly sell a fight happening in it.
“Can he go right into a title fight? In a division where the champion has not created anything for himself… Jamahal Hill’s got nothing going with anybody. It’s not as though Pereira’s going to come up and be the one to get something out of him,” Sonnen continued. “He’s as dry as a turd in a punch bowl. I mean, there’s nothing interesting out of either one of those guys. I don’t say it to be a jerk. It’s just a reality that a promoter can come in and put them together. I think that fight would make sense, but you’re just gonna have a tough sell.”
Sonnen is also not particularly fond of giving Pereira an immediate light heavyweight title opportunity after such a humiliating defeat in his last appearance.
“How do you put a guy you just woke up? You woke up a guy and informed him he can change divisions and fight for your strap which, by the way, if that fight was announced, he’d also be the favorite. The guy that’s never been in the division that was just sound asleep on television got woken up with some smelling salts and was informed, ‘Here’s a contract. You’re gonna be world champion again.’ It’s weird.”
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz has already offered to welcome Alex Pereira to the light heavyweight division in what would almost certainly be a 205 title eliminator.
