Alex Pereira Not Interested in Return to Middleweight Division

Alex Pereira has seemingly moved on from the Ultimate Fighting Championship's middleweight division for good.  

Pereira was just three fights and a year into his stint with the promotion when he secured a middleweight title shot against Israel Adesanya. “Poatan” won the strap, lost it in a rematch, moved up to light heavyweight and is now slated to make another gold bid — all within the span of another 12 months.  

As Pereira goes into his UFC 295 clash against Jiri Prochazka for the vacant light heavyweight belt, the Brazilian seems to have moved on from the prospect of competing for the middleweight strap down the line.  

The former two-division kickboxing champion recently shared that he has no plans of cutting back down to 185 pounds, especially with the recent change in the title picture.  

“Poatan” would have considered a trilogy clash against former champ and long-time rival Adesanya, who was dethroned by Sean Strickland in a huge upset at UFC 293. The Brazilian, who earned his initial title shot with a brutal Round 1 knockout win over Strickland, now considers the Anaheim, California, native his friend. The two seemed to have formed a relationship following their meeting inside the Octagon and have even trained together on a few occasions. 


“No, no, it's not in my plans,” Pereira said on ”The MMA Hour” recently. “My plan was if Israel Adesanya was still the champion there, maybe win the light heavyweight belt and make a fight with him, but now, no. Sean is my friend and it's not a weight cut I'm looking to do. I always make that weight, never miss weight or anything like that, but it is a hard weight cut. So, right now it's not in my interest.”