Making the light heavyweight division climb for the first time in his Octagon tenure, former undisputed middleweight champion, Alex Pereira is officially slated to make his division bow at UFC 291 this weekend, taking on fellow former titleholder, Jan Blachowicz.
Pereira, who had enjoyed a continued middleweight stay in the UFC since his debut in the organization back in November 2021, successfully made weight for his light heavyweight limit bow against Polish contender, Blachowicz this weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah, landing at 205.5 pounds for the title eliminator co-headlining bout.
Alex Pereira successfully makes weight for his UFC 291 return
“The move to light heavyweight is official!” UFC tweeted. @AlexPereiraUFC in at 205.5lbs for tomorrow’s #UFC291 co-main.”
Last making the light heavyweight limit in professional combat sports back in late 2021, Pereira suffered a decision loss to Russian striker, Artem Vakhitov in the pairs light heavyweight championship rematch under the GLORY Kickboxing banner in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
In his most recent Octagon outing, Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight champion, headlined UFC 287 back in April in Miami, Florida – suffering a stunning second round KO loss to arch-rival, Israel Adesanya in the pair’s middleweight title rematch.
Over the course of his Octagon stint, Alex Pereira has landed wins over Andreas Michailidis, compatriot, Bruno Silva, Sean Strickland, and in his title-clinching performance, stopped Adesanya in a rallying performance at UFC 281 back in November at Madison Square Garden.
As for opponent, Blachowicz, the career light heavyweight made championship weight at 205lbs for their non-title bout tomorrow in ‘The Beehive State’ – with the victor of tomorrow’s barn-burning co-main event expected to compete for a vacant title against former champion, Jiri Prochazka later this year.
And following tomorrow’s co-headliner between Blachowicz and Pereira, a lightweight rematch between former interim champions, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje will take main event status, with symbolic BMF spoils up for grabs.