Ahead of his incoming UFC 287 title rematch with former undisputed champion, Israel Adesanya this weekend, current middleweight kingpin, Alex Pereira has zero interest in sharing the Octagon with the undefeated welterweight challenger, Khamzat Chimaev, claiming the Chechen-born contender “talks too much”.
Headlining UFC 287 this Saturday in Miami, Florida, Pereira looks to end his rivalry with former undisputed UFC middleweight champion, Adesanya – having collected the division crown against the Nigerian-Kiwi back in November of last year.
Featuring at the Madison Square Garden flagship event last year, Pereira managed to rally to defeat City Kickboxing staple, Adesanya with a stunning fifth round standing TKO win at the Octagon fence.
And in the weeks removed from the bout, Pereira was linked with a title defense with the current #3 ranked welterweight contender, Chimaev, who had claimed the Sao Paulo native had rejected the opportunity to fight him at UFC 282 on short-notice in December of last year.
Alex Pereira unmoved by calls for a fight with Khamzat Chimaev next
Focused on this weekend’s title re-run with Adesanya, Pereira remains unmoved on a fight with the unbeaten, Chimaev, weighing up potential fights with former champion, Robert Whittaker, and compatriot, Paulo Costa next instead.
“This week, I’m obviously focused on Israel (Adesanya), but talk about [Robert] Whittaker, and Paulo Costa,” Alex Pereira told assembled media during his availability on Wednesday. “I know they want to fight me. They were never disrespectful. They always kept their composure, but when you talk about [Khamzat] Chimaev, he’s the kind of guy that seems to be a little lost, he talks too much.”
“Right after my last fight, he said that he wanted to fight me at this weight class,” Alex Pereira said. “He knows it was right after the fight, everybody’s injured. I could not make that weight so I challenged him to a fight at 205 [pounds]. He ran. To be honest, if it’s Whittaker or Paulo Costa, if the organization wants to put us to fight, it’s my job to fight as UFC champion, but I don’t even want to talk about Chimaev.”
Sidelined since September of last year, Chimaev co-headlined UFC 279 against incoming UFC 287 feature, Kevin Holland, submitting the Riverside native with a first round D’Arce choke in an impromptu catchweight pairing.