Alex Pereira hints heavyweight stay not guaranteed if Pavlovich fight goes wrong
Alex Pereira, who opened as the underdog for his UFC 335 co-main event against Sergei Pavlovich on 12 December, said he would not keep forcing a heavyweight run when he has another option.
Alex Pereira has said heavyweight will not be a permanent home if his UFC 335 fight with Sergei Pavlovich goes against him. Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on Wednesday, Pereira said: “The plan is to stay at heavyweight, but you never know.” The stakes are clear for Pereira, who opened as the underdog. A loss would leave him 0-2 at heavyweight, while a win would put him back in the title conversation as Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit prepare to meet at UFC 334.
The five-round heavyweight bout takes place on 12 December at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as the co-main event beneath the BMF title fight between Charles Oliveira and Diego Lopes.
Pereira said he had considered dropping back to 205 pounds, the division where he left his light heavyweight title, but his competitive side won out. If the heavyweight run does not work, he said, he will not keep forcing it when he has another option, and he does not want to become a stepping stone for anyone.
He also plans to come in lighter. Pereira said he will weigh around 240 pounds, about 10 pounds less than the 251 he carried for his heavyweight debut against Gane at UFC Freedom 250 in June. Gane stopped him in the second round of that interim title fight.
Pereira dismissed those who doubt his durability after that defeat, calling people who say he cannot take a punch idiots. He also maintained that Gane landed illegal strikes in the finish, a complaint he has directed at referee Herb Dean since the fight.
Pavlovich arrives on a three-fight winning streak, most recently stopping Tallison Teixeira in the first round at UFC Macau in May. Pereira said Teixeira was in his camp for the Gane fight when that loss to Pavlovich happened, and that he had planned to call out Pavlovich after beating Gane. The UFC offered the matchup instead once Pereira's hopes of a Gane rematch went nowhere.
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