Dana White loves that Alex Pereira desires to battle all people.
It solely took ‘Poatan’ seven fights contained in the Octagon to etch his identify within the historical past books as a two-division world champion, capturing each the middleweight and light-weight heavyweight titles. On October 5, the ‘Brazilian Boogeyman’ will step into the primary occasion highlight for his third title protection of 2024 when he meets heavy-hitting contender Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 in Salt Lake Metropolis.
There, Pereira will put his 205-pound crown on the road following a pair of highlight-reel KOs in opposition to former champions Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka.
Though Pereira already has one other battle lined up, ‘Poatan’ not too long ago expressed curiosity in venturing again all the way down to 185 for a battle with present middleweight king Dricus Du Plessis.
Requested about Pereira’s plans following Tuesday’s version of Dana White’s Contender Collection, the UFC CEO mentioned that Pereira’s need to battle anybody and everyone seems to be an excellent downside for the promotion to have.
“My tackle him is, he’s f*cking nasty,” White informed reporters at Tuesday’s DWCS post-fight press convention. “That’s my tackle him. He desires to maneuver up. He desires to maneuver down. He desires to go all over the place. That’s why individuals love him. These are the kind of fighters individuals love. Pereira desires to battle all people. I like it.
“… The factor that’s nice about it’s, because of this I mentioned a minute in the past all people loves him and he’s nice. However it additionally provides us a ton of choices that as we’re in matchmaking, ‘Ought to we do that, ought to we do this? Shouldn’t we do that, shouldn’t we do this?’ It’s a great downside to have with a man like him. How about he’s on trip and accepts the last-minute battle? All the things about Alex Pereira is what makes followers completely love the man” (h/t MMA Junkie).
‘DDP’ warns Alex Pereira in opposition to shifting again all the way down to middleweight
Following his fourth-round submission victory over Israel Adesanya in Perth, Du Plessis is anticipated to rematch the person he took the title from in January, Sean Strickland.
Responding to Pereira’s problem, ‘DDP’ was seemingly open to the potential superfight and broke out a bit of MMA math by mentioning the truth that Pereira as soon as bought slept by the man he simply tapped out in The Land Down Beneath.
“If Izzy [Adesanya] stiffens you want that, you don’t wanna be in there with me,” Du Plessis mentioned on the UFC 305 post-fight press convention. “Particularly not while you’re gonna are available in there with the reasons, ‘No, I minimize an excessive amount of weight…’ That’s gonna occur. All people’s gonna say that. So keep at 205. Combat your battle in opposition to the #8 ranked man. Combat your battle there and luxuriate in it.”
“If [Sean] Strickland is the subsequent battle, the individuals wanna see that battle… So, let me deal with my enterprise, you deal with your online business. You don’t have to chop the burden so you could have some form of excuse. I’ll come up after the Strickland battle, I’ll come as much as 205, and we’ll type it on the market,” Du Plessis mentioned of a possible battle with Pereira” (h/t Sports activities Illustrated).
