Alex Pereira laid down a challenge after hearing one brutal prediction about how he would fare against Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev is currently gearing up for his first shot at UFC title glory. While he was tipped to ascend to this point rapidly after a record-breaking first 10 days in the promotion, it has taken him five years to overcome health and travel issues that have contributed to frequent inactivity.
But the moment has finally arrived, and Chimaev will challenge Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 319. While his current focus is on the 185-pound belt, the Chechen star’s bold callouts have rarely stayed within the realms of his own division.
That was the case while he competed at welterweight in 2022, as Chimaev set his sights on the then-newly crowned middleweight king, Alex Pereira.
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Alex Pereira pitched bets that he’d beat Khamzat Chimaev and avoid getting taken down inside 30 seconds
Chimaev first outlined interest in facing the Brazilian in November 2022, after Pereira dethroned Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 to win the middleweight title just one year after his Octagon debut.
Among those who reacted to the callout was ex-heavyweight fighter Brendan Schaub, and it is safe to say that he did not envision ‘Poatan’ finding any success…
“Khamzat tweeted out, ‘I’ll fight at 185 (pounds). I’ll be your champ.’ Now, if the UFC wanted Khamzat to be that big of a superstar at ’70 and ’85, your next fight is gonna be Khamzat vs. Alex Pereira,” Schaub said on his YouTube show.
“Khamzat beats the s— out of him. He mops the floor with him. Again, I’m not taking anything away from Alex, it’s all about matchups and styles and that’s a complete nightmare for him.”
The former kickboxing star did not take too kindly to those remarks and responded during an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.
Pereira proposed a $100,000 bet with Schaub, addressing both the result of the potential fight and the claim that he would get dragged down by Chimaev within 30 seconds.
“Brendan Schaub, I think he was running his mouth,” Pereira said. “Brendan was talking a lot of crap that Chimaev would run (me) over, and blah, blah, blah, and said he would be able to take (me) down in 30 seconds.
“Here’s the deal, (I will) fight Chimaev…at 205 (pounds), and (I) propose to do a bet with Schaub since he wants to run his mouth. $50,000 if (I) beat Chimaev. We both (put up the money), and the $50,000 from both sides we donate to kids in need.
“Also, $50,000 more that he won’t take (me) down in 30 seconds — and we double that up (also) to donate to the charity,” Pereira continued. “(This isn’t just) for Schaub, but to Chimaev, too. If he wants to jump on the bet train, let’s bet.”
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Khamzat Chimaev’s next opponent has also been backed to beat Alex Pereira
Talk of Chimaev and Pereira fighting was quick to dwindle away, but it may not be completely off the table. With ‘Borz’ looking to win titles in up to three different weight classes and Pereira planning revenge on Ankalaev to return to the light heavyweight throne in October, discussion over a showdown between the pair could return to the surface.
But Chimaev won’t be the only one looking up down the line with a win at UFC 319. Should Du Plessis keep hold of the middleweight belt, he has openly outlined his intention to eventually move up and achieve two-division glory himself.
And Henry Cejudo, for one, thinks the South African would succeed if Pereira occupied the throne.
“I’ll definitely put my money with DDP,” Cejudo said on his Pound 4 Pound podcast earlier this year regarding a fight between Pereira and Du Plessis.
“I think DDP, stylistically, is a problem, and I know DDP is going to go in there and f—- wrestle. And with the grappling, I think that could be very problematic.
“But there’s one thing that I will say is he will need to be careful because Alex Pereira does a really good job of countering, and there’s a lot of little sloppy things that DDP does,” Cejudo added.
“But I think I put my strengths and his mixing of the fighting against a guy like Alex Pereira.”