Alex Pereira is no longer interested in fighting Jake Paul after the pair’s Facetime face-off last summer.
The beloved UFC light-heavyweight champion faces Magomed Ankalaev next week at UFC 313 in a bout that could see him all but wipe out his division. He has always had a keen eye on the boxing ring, and after Jake Paul defeated Mike Perry back in July Pereira and Paul called each other out on a phone call.
Pereira has since been called out by Oleksandr Usyk for a crossover champion vs champion fight with the former cruiserweight king. And it seems that he would rather pursue that than a clash against Paul this year.
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Alex Pereira claims he is on a ‘different level’ to Jake Paul as fight talks simmer
Back in July, it looked as though Alex Pereira was keen to fight Jake Paul in a boxing crossover after their publicly visible FaceTime call. But speaking with Bloody Elbow in an exclusive chat as a Stake ambassador, he seems to have backtracked on the idea altogether.
“I think that was more for the media, for the hype,” Pereira said of the pair’s run-in last summer. “I don’t necessarily know if that makes a lot of sense. Maybe for an exhibition match or something like that.
“But honestly I’m on another level, granted he is a boxer now. He’s a guy that trains boxing but I just feel like I’m different, on a different level.”
Alex Pereira reacts to Oleksandr Usyk callout
The boxing match that seems to make more sense for Pereira is against undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The ex-cruiserweight has defeated all comers in his brief run atop the ring, and named Pereira as one of two final opponents he would like to face.
Pereira is keen on the prospect of a showdown, adding: “I liked that a lot, I have obviously mentioned before my desire to box one day and I’d like to face the champion so I think that’s the fight that would make sense if I were to go and box.
“But if he’s no longer the champion then what makes sense is for me to do a fight where it’s champion vs champion.”
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