Kamaru Usman has warned the heavyweight division of Alex Pereira’s potential move up to the division.
Following his monumental main event win against Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, Alex Pereira made his intentions clear as he called for his next fight to be a heavyweight title fight.
The light heavyweight champion outlined his ‘ideal scenario’ stating that he wanted a quick turnaround fight for UFC 301, but has since spoken about why that is no longer possible.
Alex Pereira talks about his options for his next fight
Despite originally calling for a quick turnaround to fight in Rio de Janeiro on May 4th, ‘Poatan’ has revealed that he broke two toes during his April 13th main event against Jamahal Hill.
“I was imagining the best-case scenario (when he called for a heavyweight fight for UFC 301), but I have two broken toes. It’s complicated. I don’t want to hold up the light heavyweight division.” Pereira admitted on MMAFighting’s Trocacao Franca podcast.
“A cool scenario would have been fighting at heavyweight (at UFC 301) and then giving the opportunity to someone to fight for the light heavyweight belt next. I think that would have been cool.” Pereira added.
Jiri Prochazka called for a rematch with Pereira following his bounce-back win over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 300, but despite that, the Brazilian has highlighted Russian contender, Magomed Ankalaev as a likely option.
Interim UFC heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall, recently confirmed that he is set to defend his interim title at UFC Manchester, rumored for July 27th. Talking to MMAFighting, Pereira said he would be open to that fight, but he will have to see what’s offered.
“I have to see what’s best for me, but I’m not alone. I have managers with me. I’m here like a gamecock, you put another rooster in front of me and I’m there to fight, and we will fight.
- CALLOUT: Muhammad Mokaev calls out unranked flyweight with both fighters struggling to find an opponent
“But we have to see what’s best for me, my career, and my team. I’m open to fighting whoever, but I’m not the one who decides.” Pereira added.
‘Poatan’ admitted that he will likely be medically cleared to resume training in early May.
Kamaru Usman warns the heavyweight division of Pereira’s possible move up
Former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, has warned the heavyweight division of Pereira’s possible move up to the division, stating that ‘they’re all in trouble’.
“As far as moving up, I think everybody in that middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight division are in trouble when they fight a guy like Alex Pereira.
“If you don’t take the path of least resistance and you actually let him fight in the way that he does have the biggest advantage, I think they’re all in trouble.” Usman said on the Pound 4 Pound podcast.
Usman went on to comment on how he thinks Pereira would perform against Tom Aspinall. “I definitely do give him a good chance against a guy like Tom Aspinall but you know, don’t take nothing away from Tom, Tom is a savage and he’s a problem for anybody to deal with.”
As of now, it is unclear who Tom Aspinall is set to defend his title against in Manchester, but the champion previously called for a rematch with Curtis Blaydes, with that being the most likely outcome.