With Alex Pereira back at the top of the light heavyweight heap, there are plenty of fighters that would like to fight the legendary Brazilian.
This past Saturday, the premier promotion returned to Las Vegas for UFC 320, headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira.
After such a disappointing performance against the Russian earlier this year, Pereira made the correct adjustments and went on to knock Ankalaev out in the first round to reclaim his title.
And having reclaimed his light heavyweight title, ‘Poatan’ will now have several fighters waiting in line to fight him next, with him once again being one of the biggest stars in the sport.
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| Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images |
Pereira responds to shock callout from Khamzat Chimaev
Almost immediately after Pereira’s title winning performance, he was congratulated by the UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev, but as part of his congratulations message, ‘Borz’ told Pereira it is time for them to settle their unfinished business.
Rumors have previously circulated that Pereira and Chimaev have been linked to fight each other and the rivalry seemed to hot up when Chimaev trolled Pereira over his knockout loss to Israel Adesanya.
The Brazilian even went on to propose a bet that he wouldn’t be taken down by Chimaev which led to even more excitement for a potential clash between the two.
However, following Chimaev’s shock callout, Pereira issued a response, stating that he is not interested in fighting the Chechen.
“Thanks for congratulating me but all I want is a super fight, I wanna fight at heavyweight but all I can say is thank you,” Pereira said.
Following his win, the 38-year-old revealed that he had a long callout for Jon Jones planned, but following the tragic death of Jones’ brother, Arthur Jones, the Brazilian decided to pay his respects to the family with a moment of silence.
Dana White hesitant to allow Pereira to move up to heavyweight
If Pereira does eventually move up to heavyweight and somehow claims a title at the weight class, he would become the first fighter in history to win a title in three separate weight divisions.
Despite that, UFC boss Dana White is hesitant to allow Pereira to move up in weight as there are several contenders at light heavyweight that are deserving of a title shot.
Carlos Ulberg recently picked up his ninth win in a row, and before UFC 320, both Pereira and Ankalaev highlighted him as the likely next contender.
- Jamie Theodosi
