Light heavyweight king Alex
Pereira is less interested in moving back down to claim his old
belt than seeking opportunities elsewhere.
Pereira (12-2) put his 205-pound title on the line against Khalil
Rountree (13-6, 1 NC) in the main event at
UFC 307. “Poatan” successfully defended his throne for the
third time with a fourth-round technical knockout over Rountree.
When speaking about his options going forward, the Brazilian threw
cold water on relocating back down to 185 pounds because of
training partner Sean
Strickland.
Pereira had initially made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at
middleweight, where he went on to defeat former Glory
kickboxing foe Israel
Adesanya to win the belt before losing it in their rematch.
Leading up to UFC 307, the Brazilian expressed interest in moving
down to middleweight to challenge reigning champ Dricus Du
Plessis, who defended his throne against Adesanya via
submission at UFC 305. Pereira earlier said he would move down to
middleweight regardless of the outcome of his clash against “The
War Horse” at UFC 307, but he may have changed his mind.
Meanwhile, Pereira’s former foe-turned-friend Strickland is
expecting the next title shot against “Stillknocks” at
middleweight. While helping Pereira for his UFC 307 camp,
Strickland urged his friend to not create a hurdle in his path to
the middleweight title by moving down. Asked about his future
plans, Pereira said he is no longer considering a move down to 185
pounds, as Strickland is his training partner. While he isn’t
completely opposed to move to heavyweight, Pereira is very
comfortable at 205 pounds for the time being. The champ said in his
UFC 307 post-fight Octagon interview:
“We saw that Dricus [du Plessis] is gonna be fighting Sean
Strickland. He’s a training partner of mine. I don’t want to
get in his way. I can move up to heavyweight. But this division is
great. I feel great with this weight cut and this is where I’m
at.”
Strickland lost his strap to Du Plessis via close split decision at
UFC 297. He has since beaten Paulo Costa
by decision, and remains adamant on only fighting for the title
next. Meanwhile, Du Plessis’ camp claims to have been told that the
champ will defend his crown against the winner of a UFC 308 clash
between Khamzat
Chimaev and Robert
Whittaker scheduled to go down on Oct. 26.