Las Vegas — The heavyweight question came early during Wednesday’s UFC 320 media day session with Alex Pereira.
In this case, it was phrased as a “which do you prefer” sort of question: stay at 205lbs and reign over the division once more with a win over Magomed Ankalaev, or move up to heavyweight?
“I said this since I joined the UFC, I take one step at a time,” Pereira (12-3) said in response, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “So right now I’m focused on going out there, getting my belt back, and then we’ll see what happens.”
There’s a reason Pereira is continually asked about heavyweight: he’s already held middleweight and light heavyweight gold in the UFC. No fighter has ever won a title in three weight classes in UFC history, but “Poatan” is looked at a legitimate threat to do so. He was even briefly the focus of Jon Jones, who as heavyweight champ expressed a desire to fight the Brazilian star, until he lost his 205lb title to Ankalaev.
Bottom line, Pereira is just different. He touched on that when asked about how rare it is to see ex-champs win back their titles in immediate rematches. “I think I’m different, and I can do things differently,” stated Pereira. “It’s kind of the same thing, I’m the two-division champion, and few people were able to do that too.”
Miscommunication, or legitimate bad blood? There’s been some interesting skirmishes between Pereira and opponent, rival, and current champ Magomed Ankalaev ahead of UFC 320. That includes an encounter at the UFC PI.
“Yeah there is a rivalry, I think he’s bothered by me,” suggested Pereira. “It’s not on my part, but what happened at the PI, and then sometimes I’ll see him, he’ll move somewhere else. It feels like he’s bothered, but I can’t answer for him.”
“Back before the first fight, he wanted to kind of create a storyline saying that I wouldn’t accept the fight, that I didn’t want to fight him and all that,” Pereira added. “Now there’s a little bit of a rivalry, so there’s a small story there to be told.”
Asked about the UFC White House card, meanwhile, Pereira said simply that “it’s possible” that he could be involved. He’s long had a history of stepping into the UFC’s biggest events to save the day (headlining both UFC 300 and UFC 303), and might just stay ready again.
Poatan to the White House in 2026?
Watch the full UFC 320 media day appearance by Alex Pereira above.
