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It has not even been a month since Alex Pereira won the UFC light heavyweight title, but that has not stopped pundits and fans from considering whether ‘Poatan’ could become the promotion’s first ever triple champion by trying his luck in the heavyweight division.
Fabricio Werdum thinks Alex Pereira could KO Jon Jones
One of such men is none other than former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. On his official podcast ‘Nem me Viu’ (transcribed by Tatame, translated by Bloody Elbow), the former UFC heavyweight champion assessed Pereira’s chances in the division.
Although Werdum thinks Poatan could do well and has the striking technique to back him up against any opponent, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt also believes Pereira might have problems against top grapplers.
For instance, Werdum believes a match against champion Jon Jones could become a complicated affair for Poatan due to ‘Bones’ being a wrestling specialist. Nonetheless, ‘Vai Cavalo’ knows better than to count out Alex Pereira and would not be too shocked if the kickboxer also managed to knock out Jones.
“I think Poatan would do well at heavyweight, too. I don’t know if he would become the champion, but he has already won two titles. He has the skills to do it, but it woulnd’t be right off the bat. It would depend on who he would have to face. I think it would be complicated if he faced Jon Jones, because he would take Poatan down, there’s no other way. He could knock out Jon Jones, but you can’t compare them. Poatan’s striking technique is much better, but if the fight goes to the ground, it gets complicated. I don’t doubt him on anything, though.”
Alex Pereira has only one UFC loss in his career
Alex Pereira (9-2) became the new UFC light heavyweight champion when he defeated Jiri Prochazka for the vacant belt earlier this month, at UFC 295. The victory put Poatan on a two-fight win streak in the division, after beating another former champion in Jiri Prochazka when the 36-year-old made his 205 debut in July.
The streak came right after Pereira’s sole Octagon loss, when he got knocked out by longtime rival Israel Adesanya in their rematch, at UFC 287, in April of this year.
Fabricio Werdum hasn’t won a fight since 2020
Meanwhile, Fabricio Werdum (24-10-1 NC) had his first fight in over two years when rematched fellow former UFC heayvweight champion Junior dos Santos at Gamebred Fighting Championship 5, back in September. Unfortunately for Vai Cavalo, he lost the fight via split decision and is now 0-2 agaisnt ‘Cigano’.
In fact, the 46-year-old has not won a fight since his UFC days, when he submitted Alexander Gustafsson via armbar, in July 2020. In his second most previous outing, Werdum’s match against Renan Ferreira became a No Contest when footage showed ‘Problem’ had tapped to a triangle choke by Werdum but the fight was not stopped.
