Alex Pereira has some Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight title defenses to collect.
Brazil’s “Poatan” wasted no time cementing himself in UFC’s history books by quickly obtaining titles in two divisions. Before becoming the current 205-pound titleholder with a second round technical knockout win (watch highlights) over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 last month (Nov. 11, 2023), Pereira captured Middleweight gold with a fifth round technical knockout of Israel Adesanya one year prior (watch highlights).
Thanks to the 36-year-old’s speed of success (along with his size), it’s gotten fans pondering if the sensational striker could one day hold a third title. Pereira recently added fuel to this fire with a cryptic post on Instagram, which seemingly teased an interim Heavyweight title clash with the division’s current champion, Tom Aspinall, for UFC 300 in April 2024. That’s what fans got out of it anyway, but Pereira has not revealed that it was just something he had a dream about and he posted it because of past “visions” he’d had.
“I fought at Middleweight, and then I he had to listen to my body to go up for fighting at Light Heavyweight,” Pereira told The Mac Life. “But, I’m a fighter. I’ll fight anybody, anywhere. But this is not a thing that, like I had the height and basically, size of a Heavyweight, but this is the thing that’s gotta be programmed, put some work on.
“It’s not someday, just jump in on an adventure like that,” he added. “I want to make the things on the right way. I can definitely fight at Heavyweight, maybe something for the future, but it’s gotta be something that’s well planned. Right now, I’m focused on this Light Heavyweight reign.”
Pereira has been as active as any UFC fighter since his November 2021 arrival, especially at the elite level. He fought thrice in both 2022 and 2023 and for his first title defense as Light Heavyweight champion, Pereira is expected to be tasked with the former champion, Jamahal Hill, upon his return from a ruptured achilles tendon.