Alex Pereira’s future: what should be next?

Alex Pereira is no longer the UFC light heavyweight champion. So, the big question is a very simple one: what’s next for the man known as ‘Poatan’?

Magomed Ankalaev was able to shut down Alex Pereira on Saturday night at UFC 313. No, it wasn’t the prettiest fight in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but it was certainly tense. In the end, Ankalaev did more than enough to get his hand raised in victory, and he has earned the right to call himself a champion.

Alex Pereira, though, will need to go back to the drawing board. He needs to examine what exactly went wrong, and determine whether or not he’s interested in an immediate rematch. After all, Ankalaev has made it clear that he’s happy to take on that challenge again, even suggesting that Alex “ran” through the majority of their contest.

Alex Pereira’s future

Firstly, it feels like we can rule out Alex Pereira being in a non-title fight at light heavyweight. At this point in his career, he has earned the right to be competing with the best of the best every single time he goes out there. With that being said, we actually think there are three different options for him when it comes to his next move.

An immediate rematch with Ankalaev, a move up to heavyweight, or a move down to middleweight. If Dricus du Plessis defeats Khamzat Chimaev, we can see him taking on that challenge. Realistically, though, it comes down to what he wants to do for his legacy.

If a third world title in a third different weight class is what he’s after, heavyweight should be the move. Alas, if we’re honest with ourselves, it feels like the Ankalaev rematch is the one. He needs to prove that he’s still better than what he showed on Saturday, and he’ll be really hungry to get that one back.