Former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira is done with his monstrous weight cut, at least for the foreseeable future, and will try his luck in the light heavyweight division. His first assignment comes in the form of ex-division titleholder Jan Blachowicz in the UFC 291 co-main event this July in Salt Lake City.
“He is a dangerous guy, an experienced guy, and a guy we know because of my training partner Glover Teixeira,” Pereira told his YouTube subscribers (via MMA News). “I’m sure training hard and together with Glover, he will pass me a lot of stuff, for sure, like he is always doing. Everybody knows B?achowicz is a dangerous guy, an all-rounder. But I think it’s a good first fight for me.”
Pereira is coached by former light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira and was part of his mentor’s fight camp when Teixeira defeated Blachowicz to capture the crown at UFC 267. But reigning middleweight kingpin, Israel Adesanya, does not expect “Poatan” to have much success against the Polish powerhouse.
Blame the wrestling critics.
“I think Jan is gonna take him down and just beat him up there,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel (via MMA Junkie). “Jan will stand with him for a bit but eventually just get him to the fence or try to take him down the way he took me down. I don’t think he’s gonna shoot, so he’s either gonna get him to the fence … he could get caught coming in. It depends. What if he gets him down and keeps him down? I don’t know, we’ll have to see.”
Adesanya could be considered an authority when it comes to previewing this contest, registering a decision loss to Blachowicz at UFC 259 before splitting a pair of fights with Pereira at UFC 281 (L) and UFC 287 (W). As for “The Last Stylebender,” he’s expected to return at UFC 293 this fall in Sydney.