Alex
Pereira is headed to the light heavyweight division.
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“Poatan” announced the move on his YouTube channel on Wednesday
night. Pereira is coming off a loss to Israel
Adesanya in a middleweight championship rematch in the UFC 287
headliner this past Saturday.
I think I did my work [at] 185 and now I’m feeling good to go up to
205,” Pereira said. “Like I told you, when I’m feeling good — this
will be something natural … and now I think it is.
“But as well I want to make one thing clear. This division 185 … I
always made weight. A lot of people had doubts, but I always
fulfilled my obligation. But not it’s the moment to go up to the
next division. This will be better for me.”
It was the first victory for Adesanya against Pereira in a series
spanning four bouts in kickboxing and MMA. Pereira had won his
previous seven MMA appearances, a run that saw him claim
middleweight gold with a fifth-round stoppage of his rival at UFC
281 this past November. Pereira is confident that if he asked for
an immediate trilogy against Adesanya it would happen, but he feels
that moving to light heavyweight is the right move to make at this
point in time.
“All of you saw the provocation from Adesanya after the fight. He
acts as if he has won against me three times. But it’s not like
this. But I understand, or try to understand the happiness he has.
It was his dream to win one time against me, and now he did,”
Pereira said.
“But I’m sure if I would stay in this division, I can fight against
him directly. Let’s see how he behaves … I’m not going up because I
can’t make the weight anymore. I will always be able to make 185.
Let’s see the behavior of him. He’s behaving like this because Dana
White spoke after the fight about my weight.
“And it seems like he is thinking like, ‘Oh this guy will never
make weight again — I can [provoke] him, because he won’t do
anything. I’m sure if I insist to fight him again immediately, the
UFC and my promoters will make it happen.”
Pereira, who was a two-division kickboxing champion in Glory,
currently does not have a date or opponent set for his 205-pound
debut.