Alex
Pereira’s loss at UFC 313
seems to have limited his options in regards to fights at other
weight classes.
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Prior to facing Magomed
Ankalaev on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there
were rumblings about “Poatan” moving up to heavyweight for a
potential matchup with Jon Jones, or
moving down to middleweight for a clash against Dricus Du
Plessis.
After the Brazilian relinquished his crown to Ankalaev in a
unanimous decision loss, UFC CEO Dana White quickly shut down the
possibility of a superfight against Jones. Meanwhile, Du Plessis,
the UFC’s reigning 185-pound champion, also seems to have lost
interest in a showdown with the Brazilian.
“Thanks Ankalaev, for taking the biggest payday of my life,” Du
Plessis said on Jackson O’Doherty’s video blog. “It’s nothing
personal.”
The sentiments were quite different following Du Plessis’ victory
over Israel
Adesanya at UFC 305,
when Pereira hinted at an eventual return to the middleweight
division in the immediate aftermath. While Du Plessis was skeptical
that “Poatan” could return to 185 pounds, he did
express interest in a future light heavyweight bout against the
former Glory Kickboxing champion.
“You don’t have to cut the weight so you have some sort of excuse,”
Du Plessis said at the UFC 305 post-fight press conference. “I’ll
come up after the [Sean] Strickland fight. I’ll come up to 205 and
we’ll sort it out there.”
While Du Plessis did defeat Strickland in their rematch at UFC
312Khamzat Chimaev will be the next obstacle for the South
African champion. As for Pereira, he seems to be targeting a
rematch with Ankalaev. Even if Pereira is able to even the score
against Ankalaev, a fight against the Brazilian won’t have the same
appeal for Du Plessis.
“No. Aura gone,” Du Plessis said.