According to Glover
Teixeira, former UFC middleweight champion Alex
Pereira made the right decision to move to 205 pounds.
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“I was like, ‘I love it that you’re going to light heavyweight,’
because I don’t want to see him cutting that much weight,” Teixeira
said at a post-fight press conference following his victory over
Anthony
Smith in a grappling match at the UFC Fight Pass 4
Invitational. “You don’t know how much that guy cut. He’s 230
pounds right now, and he’s lean, he’s probably like eight percent
body fat. For him to drop to 185 is crazy … As you get older it
gets harder and harder. Eventually it gets bad for your health.
Pereira, who trains at Teixeira MMA & Fitness, will make his light
heavyweight debut against Jan
Blachowicz at UFC 291 on July 29 in Salt Lake City. “Poatan” is
coming off a second-round KO loss to Israel
Adesanya in a rematch at UFC 281 this past April.
“I think it’s a great matchup for Alex,” Teixeira said. “I think
Alex is gonna take over the whole division. He’s gonna be a
champion again at light heavyweight.”
If Pereira beats Blachowicz, he will likely already be one of the
top title contenders at 205 pounds. That would set up an intriguing
showdown with Jamahal
Hill, who defeated Texeira to claim the vacant belt in January.
Texeira wouldn’t mind seeing his protege avenge that defeat.
“For sure, the style with Jamahal
Hill and Alex, it’s perfect for Alex,” Teixeira said. “Listen,
Jamahal
Hill is a great fighter, and Jan is a great fighter. We’re not
looking past Jan over here like that. Styles make fights. My style
was more grappling, and Jan is a tremendous striker. He beat
Israel
Adesanya and he was doing really good in the standup before he
started going for the ground. Jan is dangerous, he hits hard.
“But if everything goes to plan and Alex can get past Jan, for sure
I think Jamahal
Hill will be an amazing fight for Alex, and it would be nice to
see revenge — nothing against Jamahal
Hill, he’s a great guy as well, but yeah.”