Israel Adesanya questions Pereira’s move to continue competing at heavyweight, arguing that his former rival should have returned to light heavyweight after losing to Ciryl Gane in June.
Alex Pereira is preparing for his second heavyweight appearance, with a five-round fight against Sergei Pavlovich scheduled for Dec. 12 at UFC 335. However, Pereira has already discussed returning to light heavyweight if he loses, a decision that does not sit well with Israel Adesanya.
Pereira reportedly considered dropping back to 205 pounds after losing to Gane in their interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250. Instead, Poatan decided to give heavyweight another shot by accepting the Pavlovich matchup.
During an appearance on the Precision podcast, Adesanya questioned why Pereira would commit to another heavyweight fight while already considering an exit if things go wrong.
“I don’t like that,” he said on the Precision podcast. “I don’t like the fact he’s putting that out there because what the f— do you mean, ‘If I lose’? It’s not even about the, ‘If I lose’. It’s like, why not just stay at 205 after this last fight with Ciryl Gane. I thought he was going to go to 205, it made sense. I don’t know why he’s taking this fight, it doesn’t make sense to me.”
Pereira previously told the Connect Cast that he would return to light heavyweight if he failed to beat Pavlovich. The Brazilian has also explained that he wants another opportunity to prove himself at heavyweight, driven by his competitive nature and the doubts surrounding his move up in weight.
However, Adesanya believes Pereira would have made a better decision by returning to light heavyweight after his loss to Gane. The former two-division UFC champion has questioned why his rival chose another heavyweight opponent instead of returning to the division where he has enjoyed considerable success.
Pereira has competed at middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight during his combat sports career. However, Adesanya believes 205 pounds offers the best balance for the Brazilian, particularly after years of cutting weight to compete at 185 pounds.
The former rivals have also shown more respect for each other since their iconic rivalry began to settle. Adesanya previously backed Pereira ahead of his historic heavyweight title attempt, but that support has not stopped him from questioning his former opponent’s latest career decision.
Although Adesanya believes light heavyweight is the better option, he does not think Pereira would struggle if he decided to return to middleweight.
“Even if he comes back down to 185, he’ll be fine,” he said. “But, I think health-wise, he hasn’t cut down in so long. I think 205 is the sweet spot for him.”
Pereira now has a chance to prove himself against Pavlovich, a dangerous heavyweight known for his knockout power.
