Israel Adesanya is not a fan of Alex Pereira's tone going into UFC 335.
Pereira (13-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) will take a second crack at the heavyweight division on Dec. 12 when he faces Sergei Pavlovich (20-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in a five-round co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+). "Poatan" lost his divisional debut in June with a second-round TKO loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250.
If Pereira had beaten Gane, he would've become the first in UFC history to win titles across three separate weight classes. He could still achieve that goal if he rebounds vs. Pavlovich, but Pereira recently stated if he loses at UFC 335, he would move back to light heavyweight where he was a two-time champion.
Adesanya (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC), who has fought Pereira twice in UFC title fights and twice in kickboxing matches, does not like that messaging from his rival-turned-friend.
"I saw a clip of Pereira saying if he loses to Pavlovich he's going back down to 205 – I don't like that," Adesanya said on his PRECISION podcast with Demetrious Johnson. "I don't like that he's putting that out there. Because what the f*ck you mean, 'If I lose?' It's not even about, 'If I lose.' It's just like, why not stay at 205 after that last fight with Ciryl Gane? I thought he was going to go back to 205. It made sense. But I don't know why he's taking this fight. It doesn't make sense to me."
Adesanya went 1-1 with Pereira in UFC middleweight title fights before the Brazilian moved up a weight class and put together a memorable run as light heavyweight champ. It was ended by Magomed Ankalaev, but Pereira took the strap back in an immediate rematch before vacating to jump to heavyweight for the matchup with Gane.
"I think go back down to 205, and that's where I think he does best," Adesanya said. "I think that's where he does his best work, was at 205. He's big, big for 185. People didn't say sh*t about his weight cutting until I knocked him out. But even if he comes back down to 185, he'd be fine. But I think health-wise, because he hasn't cut down in so long, I think 205 is the sweet spot for him and he would do well there and great matchups.
"If he wants a title shot, he can get it like that because he never lost the belt. He vacated it and went to heavyweight. He can come back and say, 'Chama.' Go back to 'Chama.' All this BS, all this fugazi – stick to 'Chama.'"
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Israel Adesanya: Alex Pereira staying at heavyweight 'doesn't make sense to me'