UFC superstar Alex Pereira has made an announcement about his future fighting in the UFC heavyweight division.
The former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion attempted to achieve history and become the first three-division champion in UFC history when he fought Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250. With the interim UFC heavyweight title on the line, Pereira would have become the UFC’s first three-division champion if he got his hand raised.
But Gane knocked Pereira out in the second round, putting to bed any chance of Pereira achieving that goal anytime soon. Pereira is now appealing the result of the fight due to what he says were illegal blows landed to the back of his head by Gane before the finishing sequence.
In the wake of that loss, there has been some discussion about what weight class Pereira will compete in going forward: either staying at heavyweight or moving back down to light heavyweight. Now, we have our answer.
Alex Pereira Announces He is Staying in UFC Heavyweight Division
Speaking to UFC fighter Renato Moicano in the days following his loss to Gane, Pereira confirmed that he is sticking around at heavyweight going forward.
“100 percent heavyweight. Honestly, training went really well. A lot of people talk about the weight, but I’ve always been a heavy guy. Some people say I ‘Poatan wasn’t prepared, he can’t take a punch, he got dropped by a jab.’ How can people be so stupid and only see the jab? Nobody says, ‘Damn, he took a beating (and stayed in the fight.’ Ciryl Gane was already a heavyweight, already used to that weight. ‘After that jab landed, the guy took so many shots — punches to the back of the head, illegal strikes — and managed to get back up and keep trading with the guy.’ Nobody sees that. They only talk about the jab. But what about all the punches I took?” Pereira said (h/t MMAFighting.com).
Pereira weighed in at 251 lbs for the Gane fight, which was actually three pounds more than Gane, who came in at 248 lbs. He does not want to cut back down to 205 lbs after having put on so much weight to move up in divisions, so even though the fight didn’t go as planned, Pereira is sticking around at heavyweight going forward.
Alex Pereira Says He Felt Good at Heavyweight
Even though the result of the fight was a loss, Pereira said that he felt great at heavyweight.
“I wasn’t tired. I got back to the corner and listened clearly to Glover (Teixeira) and Plinio (Cruz). I didn’t even sit on the stool. I was relaxed. I was feeling good. You know why? Because my strategy wasn’t to expend a lot of energy or throw a lot of strikes. It was to use the first round to make my reads and then start picking up the pace. But unfortunately, I got hit. Usually when I get hit, I pull my head back, but I need to have my feet planted on the ground to do that. When you’re stepping, you can’t do it. I tried to step in a little more so I could land the heavier shots, but there wasn’t enough time. The guy landed the jab and then took advantage of the situation (to land illegal strikes), and the referee allowed it,” Pereira said.
Alex Pereira Makes Announcement About Future at Heavyweight