UFC Hall of Famer Israel Adesanya says that he doesn’t like the fact that Alex Pereira is taking another fight in the heavyweight division.
Pereira made his UFC heavyweight debut in June at UFC Freedom 250 and suffered a second-round TKO loss to Ciryl Gane.
In Adesanya’s opinion, Pereira should have moved back down to light heavyweight after he lost to Gane. Instead, Pereira is staying at heavyweight and fighting Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 in December to get a potential title shot.
Adesanya, Pereira’s long-time rival in MMA and in kickboxing, doesn’t agree with this career move for the Brazilian.
Israel Adesanya Says Alex Pereira Should Move Back Down to Light Heavyweight
Speaking on the “Precision Podcast,” Adesanya said that Pereira should move back down to light heavyweight right now, and not just if he loses to Pavlovich.
“I saw a clip of Pereira saying if he loses to Pavlovich he’s going back down to 205 – I don’t like that. I don’t like that he’s putting that out there. Because what the (expletive) you mean, ‘If I lose?’ It’s not even about, ‘If I lose.’ It’s just like, why not stay at 205 after that last fight with Ciryl Gane? I thought he was going to go back to 205. It made sense. But I don’t know why he’s taking this fight. It doesn’t make sense to me,” Adesanya said (via MMAjunkie.com).
“I think go back down to 205, and that’s where I think he does best. I think that’s where he does his best work, was at 205. He’s big, big for 185. People didn’t say sh*t about his weight cutting until I knocked him out. But even if he comes back down to 185, he’d be fine. But I think health-wise, because he hasn’t cut down in so long, I think 205 is the sweet spot for him and he would do well there and great matchups.”
Israel Adesanya Says Alex Pereira Should Get Immediate Title Shot at 205 lbs
In Adesanya’s opinion, if Pereira moves back down to 205 lbs, he should be in line for an immediate title shot in that weight class if he wants to go back down.
“If he wants a title shot, he can get it like that because he never lost the belt. He vacated it and went to heavyweight. He can come back and say, ‘Chama.’ Go back to ‘Chama.’ All this BS, all this fugazi – stick to ‘Chama,'” Adesanya said.
Israel Adesanya Doesn’t Like Alex Pereira Staying at Heavyweight