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.
