UFC president Dana White recently shared his thoughts on the possibility of booking a trilogy bout between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. Adesanya regained his middleweight title via a spectacular knockout at UFC 287.
White was asked during the post-event press conference about the potential for another immediate rematch. White gave an honest assessment of Alex Pereira’s future at middleweight, saying he may likely move up to light heavyweight (205lbs) after his loss to Adesanya.
White stated: “Honestly, I think that [Alex] Pereira probably moves to 205[lbs] after this fight. He’s a monster.”
According to White, the former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion had a tough time making the weight cut to middleweight. He mentioned that Pereira still had two pounds to cut just an hour before the weigh-in. White also said that Pereira may advance to the light heavyweight division now that his conflict with Adesanya seems to be ended.
White added: “I know that he still had like two pounds to cut leading up…it was like an hour left of the weigh-in, and yeah, I mean, I’m not saying he’s moving to 205[lbs], but I would assume he is, you guys could ask him himself. But it wouldn’t surprise me.”
Should Pereira move up to light heavyweight, there would be numerous intriguing matchups awaiting him. It will provide him with an opportunity to become a double-champ both in kickboxing and MMA.
Despite their long history dating back to their kickboxing careers, Israel Adesanya has expressed that he is not planning on pursuing another immediate rematch with Pereira to complete their trilogy in MMA.
During the post-bout press conference, Adesanya stated: “I gave him a fast track to the belt…But also, I was looking for that challenge…”
“Now he’s gotta do the hard yards if he wants to do that, but I don’t think he’s gonna because he’ll go cause problems at 205[lbs], and f**k, good luck to everybody else because he’s a motherf**ker to deal with.”