Don’t expect to see Poatan vs. Borz anytime soon.
There’s been some chatter swirling around a potential fight between recently crowned UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira and the perpetually hyped Khamzat Chimaev. However, according to someone very close to the champ all the talk about this fight is just that: talk.
Glover Teixeira was on The MMA Hour this week, where he discussed what’s next for his friend and student.
“This fight is all talk,” he said regarding the Pereira vs. Chimaev rumours (ht MMA Fighting). “I usually don’t get into talk that doesn’t make any sense, but to light heavyweight, this guy says he accepted it. I remember Alex calling Jorge and saying, ‘Hey Jorge, let’s fight in Brazil.’
“I said, ‘What are you doing? You fight in Brazil? Your legs are hurt. You kicked so much, your shins are hurt. You haven’t recovered. Just chill for a while.’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, but this guy’s talking, I’ll fight him at 205. I don’t want to cut the weight.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you can’t cut the weight.’ Alex is a very strong mind.”
Teixeira went on to say that he would prefer Pereira rematches Israel Adesanya, who he beat for the title last month. Teixeira did, however, concede that Pereira might struggle to stay at middleweight for much longer, since he finds it so hard to cut down to that weight.