Alex Pereira Willing To Rise To UFC Heavyweight, As Long As These Conditions Are Fulfilled

JAKARTA - Light heavyweight champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Alex Pereira challenges himself to fight in the UFC heavyweights if he competes for gold or wins the title.

The Brazilian fighter defeated Jiri Prochazka to successfully defend his lightweight heavyweight title at UFC 303 in June 2024. After that, transient heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall called his name a potential challenger in the future, but Pereira was not interested in competing for the title other than the official title.

"I am not interested in fighting (Aspinall) at this time," Pereira said as quoted from the official MMA Fighting website, Sunday.

The fighter, who has the nickname Poatan, said that the heavyweight was not his goal so it was not the main focus.

"Not talking about him (Tom Aspinall) as a fighter, I'm talking about position. I think I'm in another position right now. To be honest, it doesn't make sense for me to fight for the interim belt," he said.

Aspinall is scheduled to maintain a temporary heavyweight belt at UFC 304 against Curtis Blaydes, while Jones recovers from a shoulder injury and awaits a date to face former Miocic Stipe champions.

Pereira said that she really respects Aspinall and does not want to take the temporary belt from him. According to him, Aspinall is an extraordinary and very technically dangerous athlete.

He considered that the temporary belt struggle was useless for him, so he set aside the opportunity for the match against Aspinall.

If Aspinall wins and says he wants to fight, he says, then his party will promote the fight. The current light heavyweight leader says he will be interested, although that's not his top priority at the moment.

"As I said, my focus is on my category," he said.

Pereira mengatakan, dirinya banyak berkembang, menjalani pertarungan dengan sangat baik. Hal itu yang menjadi fokusnya di kelas berat ringan atau tidak mendesakkan apa pun untuk bertanding pada kelas lain.

However, if he has to return to the middle class or heavyweight class, it only aims to fight for the gold belt.

Pereira added that he is now 37 years old, so he must pursue the top position or immediately win the championship belt.

"Whether it's Jon Jones, Aspinall, anyone, it doesn't matter to me. I'm just after the belt," he added.

As for the next match in the lightweight heavyweights, Pereira admitted that she did not want to compete before next December. The main focus now is to defend the light heavyweight belt.