Alex Pereira welcomes all-Brazilian title clash with Paulo Costa ahead of UFC 287 headliner
Ahead of UFC 287 this weekend, undisputed middleweight champion, Alex Pereira has voiced his interest in a potential future title outing against fellow Brazilian powerhouse, Paulo Costa, however, is less than interested in fighting the undefeated welterweight force, Khamzat Chimaev.
Headlining this Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Miami, Florida – Sao Paulo striker, Pereira is set to take on former undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya in an immediate championship rematch.
Clinching divisional gold back in November of last year at UFC 281 in Madison Square Garden, Pereira managed to win the undisputed middleweight title inside just four fights, stopping arch-rival, Adesanya with a stunning fifth round rallying TKO victory over the City Kickboxing staple at the Octagon fence.
Alex Pereira offers to take on fellow Brazilian, Paulo Costa next
Booked to headline UFC 287 this weekend in an immediate title re-run with the Nigerian-Kiwi – Pereira has knocked back a potential fight with the aforenoted, Chimaev, however, welcomes the opportunity to fight the likes of former undisputed titleholder, Robert Whittaker, as well as Belo Horizonte native and #5 ranked contender, Costa next, instead.
“This week, I’m obviously focused on Israel (Adesanya), but talk about [Robert] Whittaker, and Paulo Costa,” Alex Pereira told assembled media during his availability on Wednesday. “I know they want to fight me. They were never disrespectful. They always kept their composure, but when you talk about [Khamzat] Chimaev, he’s the kind of guy that seems to be a little lost, he talks too much.”
“Right after my last fight, he said that he wanted to fight me at this weight class,” Alex Pereira said. “He knows it was right after the fight, everybody’s injured. I could not make that weight so I challenged him to a fight at 205 [pounds]. He ran. To be honest, if it’s Whittaker or Paulo Costa, if the organization wants to put us to fight, it’s my job to fight as UFC champion, but I don’t even want to talk about Chimaev.”
Rebounding to the winner’s enclosure back in August of last year at UFC 278, Costa, who recently inked a reportedly lucrative contract with the promotion, turned in a unanimous decision win over former undisputed middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold in Salt Lake City, Utah.
