Alex Pereira Not Moving Up to HW Anytime Soon - Wants to Defend LHW Belt

[Wormwood]

There has been speculation if Alex Pereira would be moving up to fight Tom for the HW belt for UFC 300. Alex addressed the speculation stating though he would consider fighting at HW eventually, but for now he is focused on defending the LHW belt.

“I fought at middleweight, and I had to reset my body to go up to fighting at light heavyweight,” Pereira said. “I’m a fighter. I’ll fight anybody, anywhere. I have the height and the size of a heavyweight, but this is a thing that’s got to be programmed, put some work in. It’s not just something I jump in on. I want to make things the right way. I can definitely fight at heavyweight, maybe some day in the future. But it’s got to be something that’s well planned. So right now I’m focused on my light heavyweight reign.”

So nope, no fight with Aspinall in the near future. I, for one, am glad Alex isn’t looking to jump up anytime soon. Seems like the recent trend among champions is to win the belt and call out the champion from a different weight class without even defending the belt in their respective division.

full article:

Alex Pereira addresses speculation of UFC 300 fight vs. Tom Aspinall, would only move up the ‘right way’

Alex Pereira claims there was no significant meaning behind his cryptic, viral social media post that was dissected by the MMA world.

www.yahoo.com

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Defending at least a cpl times before a free TS is definitely the most fair to all concerned, imo.

Can’t hate on a guy defending.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

well at least he actually wants to defend in the LHW class. unlike other champions

 

[IneedSometop]

That's good I think Hill vs AP has potential to be one of the best fights of the year and the sooner we get it the better

 

[IronGolem007]

There has been speculation if Alex Pereira would be moving up to fight Tom for the HW belt for UFC 300. Alex addressed the speculation stating though he would consider fighting at HW eventually, but for now he is focused on defending the LHW belt.

“I fought at middleweight, and I had to reset my body to go up to fighting at light heavyweight,” Pereira said. “I’m a fighter. I’ll fight anybody, anywhere. I have the height and the size of a heavyweight, but this is a thing that’s got to be programmed, put some work in. It’s not just something I jump in on. I want to make things the right way. I can definitely fight at heavyweight, maybe some day in the future. But it’s got to be something that’s well planned. So right now I’m focused on my light heavyweight reign.”

So nope, no fight with Aspinall in the near future. I, for one, am glad Alex isn’t looking to jump up anytime soon. Seems like the recent trend among champions is to win the belt and call out the champion from a different weight class without even defending the belt in their respective division.

full article:

Alex Pereira addresses speculation of UFC 300 fight vs. Tom Aspinall, would only move up the ‘right way’

Alex Pereira claims there was no significant meaning behind his cryptic, viral social media post that was dissected by the MMA world.

www.yahoo.com

Such a sober, honest, and realistic Champion and fighter.

I don't see how anyone isn't a fan of Alex Pereira.

Only a ghey Izzy lover could hate this dude.

As real as they get.

 

[World eater]

This guy needs to be cloned so every generation gets to witness this.

 

[Iconoclast]

As it should be.

 

[OldBoy91]

Smart. Aspinall would have ruined UFC 300 for a lot of Sherdoggers by destroying their mancrush Poatan and making it look easy.

 

[Levi_]

It didn't take CC long to learn the guard and TD defense; he had a natural ability to defend TDs with his giant legs. You can see in the Fedor fight how strong his guard was.

If Alex can learn that as well as CC, he can dominate. Without that, I don't see him going far from here, as he will sooner or later have to face a great grappler, which will be his moment of truth.

I would love it if an exciting striker was a defending champ, and really hope he learns the grappling game. If not, he is unlikely to ever make it to HW.

I'm not convinced he has that yet, but some fighters are surprising- Leon came back with amazing hand fighting to beat Usman in the second fight.

 

[StonedLemur]

Smart. Aspinall would have ruined UFC 300 for a lot of Sherdoggers by destroying their mancrush Poatan and making it look easy.

Aspinall is an awful stylistic matchup for Alex.

 

[StonedLemur]

It didn't take CC long to learn the guard and TD defense; he had a natural ability to defend TDs with his giant legs. You can see in the Fedor fight how strong his guard was.

If Alex can learn that as well as CC, he can dominate. Without that, I don't see him going far from here, as he will sooner or later have to face a great grappler, which will be his moment of truth.

I would love it if an exciting striker was a defending champ, and really hope he learns the grappling game. If not, he is unlikely to ever make it to HW.

I'm not convinced he has that yet, but some fighters are surprising- Leon came back with amazing hand fighting to beat Usman in the second fight.

He's definitely progressing, but you're 100% right sir.
He needs good TDD to further his career.

 

[Oddmonster]

Such a sober, honest, and realistic Champion and fighter.

I don't see how anyone isn't a fan of Alex Pereira.

Only a ghey Izzy lover could hate this dude.

As real as they get.

My only problem with him is, as he says himself - "I have the height and the size of a heavyweight". I simply can not be that impressed with a guy that has only fought people that are significantly smaller than him.

Let him have a few more LHW fights, where he at least doesnt dwarf his opponents, and I'll start respecting him. Until then, all I am impressed with is how good he is at weightcutting.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

Nothing wrong with that, totally fair.

 

[chinarice]

Such a sober, honest, and realistic Champion and fighter.

I don't see how anyone isn't a fan of Alex Pereira.

Only a ghey Izzy lover could hate this dude.

As real as they get.

Ohhh the irony of you implying anyone is a homosexual because of who they like lol now is your chance to have your hopes and dreams of going down on Poatan come to fruition! Take your shot while you can!

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

No heavyweight can take that final form calf kick / left hook of doom

 

[VinceArch]

That's how it should be to all champions. Tired of the champion vs champion match ups. It's lost what actually made it special.

 

[KnockoutsGalore1]

It's what he needs to do. With a champ, and an interim, we don't need a lower weight champ coming up and making it even more muddled. It used to be an awesome thing when someone would attempt to go for 2 belts, but they had to have cleaned out their division first. Now, every time someone wins a belt, the first question asked is "are you going up or down for another?"

 

[Travis Alexander]

My only problem with him is, as he says himself - "I have the height and the size of a heavyweight". I simply can not be that impressed with a guy that has only fought people that are significantly smaller than him.

Let him have a few more LHW fights, where he at least doesnt dwarf his opponents, and I'll start respecting him. Until then, all I am impressed with is how good he is at weightcutting.

He’s the LHW champ and beat Jan and Jiri. You just sound like a hater.

 

[Oddmonster]

He’s the LHW champ and beat Jan and Jiri. You just sound like a hater.

Yeah, I am a little bit of a hater. Not so much I can't be turned around though. Right now, I am not convinced he is all that. Jan was a great fighter, but he has not won since 2021 - unless you count the acl tear on Rakic. Jiri was out with injury for a year and got surgery. Not fantastic wins, but solid. A few more wins, and I will start respecting him.

 

[Travis Alexander]

Yeah, I am a little bit of a hater. Not so much I can't be turned around though. Right now, I am not convinced he is all that. Jan was a great fighter, but he has not won since 2021 - unless you count the acl tear on Rakic. Jiri was out with injury for a year and got surgery. Not fantastic wins, but solid. A few more wins, and I will start respecting him.

While I don’t agree with everything your saying, I do respect your viewpoint sherbro.