Israel Adesanya questions Alex Pereira's backup plan: 'Why not just stay at 205?'

Pereira has said he will go back to light heavyweight, straight into a title fight, if he loses to Sergei Pavlovich on 12 December.

Israel Adesanya has questioned why Alex Pereira is staying at heavyweight at all, after Pereira said he would return to light heavyweight if he loses to Sergei Pavlovich.

Speaking on the Precision podcast, Adesanya said: "I already saw a clip of Pereira saying if he loses to Pavlovich, he's going back down to 205. I don't like that." He added: "It's not even about if I lose, it's just like, why not just stay at 205 after this last fight with Ciryl Gane?"

"I thought he was gonna go to 205. It made sense," Adesanya said. "I don't know why he's taking this fight. It doesn't make sense to me."

Pereira faces Pavlovich over five rounds in the UFC 335 co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on 12 December. It will be his second fight at heavyweight. Gane stopped him in the second round of their interim title fight in June.

In a Portuguese-language interview on Connect Cast, Pereira said he would not stay at heavyweight if he lost to Pavlovich, and that a return to light heavyweight would be straight for the title.

Adesanya, who knocked Pereira out in their UFC rematch, said Pereira could even make middleweight work again. "Even if he comes back down to 185, he'll be fine," he said, but added: "I think 205 is a sweet spot for him. And he will do well there."

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