The former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder is scheduled to face Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Pereira recently discussed the possibility of returning to light heavyweight, prompting a response from his former foe.
Israel Adesanya argues Alex Pereira should have returned to light heavyweight instead of facing Sergei Pavlovich
Pereira has said he plans to return to light heavyweight if he loses to Pavlovich. Adesanya questioned why the Brazilian would discuss that possibility before the fight and said he doesn’t understand why Pereira accepted the matchup.
Adesanya believes “Poatan” should have moved back down to 205 pounds after losing to Ciryl Gane in an interim heavyweight title bout at UFC Freedom 250 in June.
“I already saw a clip of Pereira saying if he loses to Pavlovich, he is going back down to 205… I don’t like that,” Adesanya said on the “Precision” podcast. “I don’t like putting that out there. F*ck you mean, ‘If I lose?’ Why not just go back to 205 after that last fight with Ciryl Gane? I thought he was gonna go to 205; it made sense. I don’t know why he is taking this fight; it doesn’t make sense to me.”
Pereira had hoped for a rematch against Gane before accepting the Pavlovich matchup. Gane is now set to defend the heavyweight title against Josh Hokit at UFC 334 in November.