Alex Pereira backed to make stunning heavyweight move after second UFC title win: ‘He has the discipline for it’
Off the back of his spectacular second championship victory back at UFC 295 back in November, Alex Pereira has been backed to be “disciplined” enough to land a third championship at the heavyweight limit by his training partner and close friend, Glover Texieira.
Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight championship holder, turned in a spectacular second round KO win over former titleholder, Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 back in November, stopping the Czech Republic to add to his prior middleweight spoils, and become a two-weight champion inside just two years deep in his Octagon tenure.
And recently suggested as a potential candidate to fight Jon Jones in the future at the heavyweight limit by his compatriot, Fabricio Werdum, Pereira was tipped to even potentially stop the former pound-for-pound on the feet if they compete.
“I think ‘PoAtan’ (Alex Pereira) would do well at heavyweight, too,” Fabricio Werdum said “I don’t know if he would become the champion, but he has already won two titles. He has the skills to do it, but it wouldn’t be right off the bat. It would depend on who he woud have to face. I think it would be complicated if he faced Jon Jones.”
“Because he would take ‘PoAtan’ down, there’s no other way,” Werdum continued. “He could knock out Jon Jones, but you can’t compare them. ‘PoAtan’s striking technique is much better, but if the fight goes to the ground, it gets complicated. I don’t doubt him on anything, though.”
Alex Pereira tipped to make heavyweight move
And while he’s likely set for an extended stay at light heavyweight following his championship success, Pereira has, however, been touted as well enough disciplined to make good on a heavyweight leap.
“It’s all a process,” Glover Teixeira said of Alex Pereira fighting at heavyweight during an interview with MMA Fighting. “‘Poatan’ is a disciplined professional, and that’s why he managed to make 185 [pounds] in the first place. It’s not easy for anyone to do what he did. Few people can manage that.”
“I’m not saying few people can fight in the UFC, much less win the belt, but to do what he did, losing that much weight, not many can do,” Teixeira explained. “In the UFC, I’d say only 10 percent of the fighters can do that weight cut the way he did. It was very brutal, but ‘Poatan’ has the the discipline for it.”
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