Alex Pereira Dismisses Khamzat Chimaev Callout: ‘He Loves Surfing Other People’s Waves’

In the eyes of champion Alex Pereira, Khamzat Chimaev is no Ricardo Arona.

“Poatan” made history in November by becoming the first fighter in Ultimate Fighting Championship history to win titles in both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. The former 185-pound king—who went 1-1 with a knockout victory and defeat to Israel Adesanya in 2022 and 2023—moved up in weight to take on former champ Jan Blachowicz in July. The triumph put Pereira in contention for 205-pound gold, and he claimed it by vanquishing Jiri Prochazka in the second round at UFC 295.

After picking up the strap, the 9-2 former kickboxer from Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, had plenty of men calling his name as potential suitors for his first defense. Among those was Chimaev, who recently experienced high-level success at middleweight by topping former welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman on the scorecards. The Chechen, who frequently calls out champions in various divisions, asked UFC head Dana White on social media on Monday if he could “finish” Pereira. The Brazilian has since responded, in an interview with journalist Laerte Viana on Thursday.

“When I beat Adesanya in a war and conquered the middleweight belt, he challenged me for the belt,” Pereira explained. “I told my manager to tell [the] UFC, that if he really wanted to fight me, we could do that [at] light heavyweight, and he ran.”

Pereira continued, “If his goal was really face me, the opportunity was given, but when he didn’t accept, I could understand that his goal was get a shortcut to the title, [and] not [to specifically] face me. Now that I have the light heavyweight [title], after defeating Blachowicz and Jiri in two wars, he decides to challenge me in [the] light heavyweight category? It’s pretty clear that this guy loves surfing other people’s waves.”