Dana White is totally on board with Alex Pereira going again right down to middleweight.
In October, Pereira defends his gentle heavyweight title in opposition to Khalil Rountree Jr. in the principle occasion of UFC 307, however “Poatan” already has his eyes set on one other opponent: UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.
After du Plessis’s current title protection over longtime Pereira rival Israel Adesanya, the sunshine heavyweight champion instructed he’d be open to return to his outdated middleweight stomping grounds for a matchup, and on Tuesday, he doubled down on that declare, saying regardless what occurs at UFC 307, he needs to drop again down and try and reclaim the middleweight title he misplaced to Adensanya final yr.
On condition that Pereira already has a battle arising and that he’s beforehand talked about the potential of shifting as much as heavyweight, some would possibly assume “Poatan” is biting off greater than he can chew for the time being, however White just isn’t considered one of them.
“My tackle him is he’s f*cking nasty. That’s my tackle him,” White stated at Tuesday’s Contender Collection press convention. “He needs to maneuver up, he needs to maneuver down. That’s why folks love him. These are the kind of fighters folks love. Pereira needs to battle all people. I like it.”
Pereira’s willingness to battle anyone at any time has been an enormous boon to the UFC this yr specifically. The sunshine heavyweight champion stepped in on comparatively quick discover to function the principle occasion of UFC 300, knocking out former champion Jamahal Hill within the first spherical. He then stepped in on only a couple week’s discover to save lots of UFC 303 when Conor McGregor withdrew from the Worldwide Struggle Week card attributable to harm.
However regardless of what Pereira has completed for the UFC this yr, White isn’t ready to decide to permitting him to drop again down and problem du Plessis. Not less than not proper now.
As an alternative, White needs to maintain their choices open.
“I don’t know,” White stated when requested if Pereira vs. du Plessis will get booked. “The factor that’s nice about it’s, to start with, I stated a minute in the past it’s why all people loves him and it’s nice, however it additionally provides us a ton of choices as we’re matchmaking. Ought to we do that? Ought to we try this? Shouldn’t we do that? Shouldn’t we try this? It’s a great drawback to have with a man like him.”
For Pereira, although, there will not be a lot time left. Already 37 years outdated, “Poatan” had an intensive kickboxing profession earlier than becoming a member of the UFC, which suggests he might not have many prime years left within the sport. On condition that, a Pereira vs. du Plessis matchup will not be assured if the UFC doesn’t soar on it quickly. Nonetheless, White insists that in relation to Pereira, the UFC needs to weigh all its choices and never simply rush right into a battle.
“Hear, all these guys are battling time,” White stated. “All of them battle time. We’re simply going to need to see what occurs over the following couple of months. There’s loads of fights occurring in these weight courses. First Stipe [Miocic] and [Jon] Jones must occur after which we determine the place we go there. [Tom] Aspinall is clearly the following man that ought to get the following title shot, and we’ll see how this all performs out.”
UFC 307 takes place on Oct. 5 at Delta Heart in Salt Lake Metropolis.
