On the evening of June 30, the UFC 303 tournament took place in Las Vegas. Initially, the main event of the evening was supposed to be the fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler. Two weeks before the event, it became clear that they would have to look for an emergency replacement, and then the promotion turned to Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka.
The revenge promised to be brilliant and expectations were not disappointed. True, the fight turned out to be one-sided. Pereira was faster, more accurate, almost buried Prochazka in the first round, and at the beginning of the next round he knocked out the Czech with a powerful high kick. However, the referee did not stop the fight, so Jiri had to take several more finishing blows, after which the challenger could not get to his feet for a long time.
Jiri Prochazka – Alex Pereira
Photo: Ian Maule/Getty Images
Pereira made his second title defense as confidently as possible and at the moment there is only one fighter in the division who can be considered a true contender for the title: Magomed Ankalaev. It is true that the Russian was so often relegated to the background due to his statements and lack of presence in the media that, unfortunately, no one would be surprised if Magomed waited again.
Also, Pereira had a dream not long ago. Even after UFC 300, Alex stated that he was ready to move up to heavyweight and fight for the third belt. Then the management dismissed this idea, Dana White directly stated that he was not inspired by such an impulse from the Brazilian.
Now, immediately after defeating Prochazka, Joe Rogan asked Pereira about moving up to heavyweight during an interview in the Octagon, and Alex is still open: “Will you see me at heavyweight? Yes, I think that sooner or later this will happen. I talked about this after the previous fight, but it seemed to me that the management of the promotion was not particularly interested in this, although perhaps their opinion will change. I think that one day in the future I will continue to fight at heavyweight.”
Pereira won two belts as quickly as possible:
From alcoholic to champion. How Pereira conquered two UFC divisions in eight fights
At the press conference, of course, White was asked about this, and now the UFC boss is not at all categorical. Dana replied “we’ll see,” and also said that Joe Rogan had told him more than once that Pereira could be given a shot at heavyweight.
The UFC loves unique stories and is ready to stage some really big fights. Pereira’s path fits right into this category. The man came to the promotion very late, took two belts and could become the first to challenge for a title in a third weight class. And Jon Jones already hinted on one occasion that he was interested in Alex as an opponent. And if the champion wants to give the Brazilian that chance, his wish will come true.
In addition, Pereira has something to surprise heavyweights with. An armor-piercing left hand with perfect timing and power will be a great challenge for anyone. One can argue that they were fighting Alex, but he simply accepted every fight offered to him, went out and knocked his opponents out of the way. It has only been 11 months since Pereira’s debut in the light heavyweight division, and he had one contender fight, one title fight and defended his belt twice! And in three cases they were knockouts. Problems fighting? It is becoming more and more evident that the Brazilian is improving this aspect and it is becoming more and more difficult to translate. And every fight starts on his feet and, as practice shows, Pereira does not need much time or so many punches to knock down his opponent.
Alex has no demands. He comes out on short notice, is willing to save tournaments even with injuries, and the promotion values that loyalty. Of course, there is the option that UFC will assign Pereira a defense against Magomed Ankalaev, but after the Russian there is no single contender. If Alex defeats Magomed, it will be obvious that the next fight will take place in the heavyweight division. Ankalaev does not like him to state his demands from the position of a contender. The UFC does not like that.
However, this is MMA, all situations can change in a matter of hours. But more and more arguments are appearing in favor of Pereira fighting for the third belt. Who knows, maybe Stipe Miocic will pull out of the fight with Jones at the end of the fall. Then the UFC will know who to turn to.
