Alex Pereira has already accomplished a lot in a very short time in his UFC career, but recently there have been growing calls for him to be given the opportunity to become the first ever three-division champion.
Having conquered both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions to achieve two-division world supremacy in just seven fights, what were Pereira's thoughts about moving down to heavyweight following his win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303? After Pereira's win, UFC CEO Dana White said that before Pereira had even put the belt around the Brazilian's waist, UFC commentator Joe Rogan was within earshot asking Pereira about a move to heavyweight.
As it turns out, Logan wasn't alone.
“It sounds like that to me, not just to Joe Rogan. [but] “Everybody wants to see him move up to heavyweight,” White said at the post-fight press conference at UFC 303. “When I talked to him tonight, he's not worried at all. He was like, 'I'll fight at heavyweight. I'll fight wherever you want, whenever you want.'
“He's eager to bounce back and fight again. That's the kind of guy he is. He's savage. He's a really good guy.”
The heavyweight division is currently in a bit of a scramble, with interim champion Tom Aspinall preparing to face Curtis Blaydes in July at UFC 304, while undisputed heavyweight champion Jon Jones is expected to face Stipe Miocic later this year, with the bout currently scheduled for November at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Pereira could target the winner of one or both of those bouts in a bid to become a three-division champion, but Whyte isn't keen on that idea just yet – at least for now.
“It's not that I'm not interested, he went from middleweight to light heavyweight, he had a couple of fights there and defended the title, but it's not like this guy was in that division for two years and dominated everyone in that division.
“Think about it, when those two faced off, not only him but Ijiri and I standing in the middle of them, you just knew they were monsters. They're both big men. Imagine if they were both middleweights at one time. It's unbelievable, but they were good at light heavyweight. When you move up to heavyweight, it's a whole other level. No matter how big Jon Jones is and how good he is, when Jon Jones moves up to heavyweight, we thought, 'This is going to be interesting.'”
For now, Pereira's time at light heavyweight appears to be his biggest obstacle preventing him from making a move to heavyweight.
White isn't averse to the idea in the long term, but as it stands, Pereira boasts a 3-0 record at light heavyweight with two title defenses against Prochaska and one against former champion Jamahal Hill at UFC 300.
Rather than moving up in weight and trying to become a third-division champion, Whyte would like to see Pereira continue to solidify his status as the best light heavyweight in the world and eventually move down to heavyweight.
“If he dominates the division and we're like, 'There's literally nobody who can fight this guy,' he's 37 years old and if he wants to move up to heavyweight. [we’ll let him]But that's not the case,” White said.
“He said he was 230. [pounds] Isn't that the case today? Chuck [Liddell] “Forrest Griffin was walking around at 230 pounds and he cut down to 205. That's not a big number. There are some heavyweights that are 265 pounds. They cut down to 265. That's another level.”
