Alex Pereira volunteers to fight at UFC 301, says ‘it’s time’ for heavyweight test
Alex Pereira knocked out Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC 300 and immediately said he was on board with a 21-day turnaround to headline UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro. And he feels ready to do it at heavyweight.
“Poatan” viciously stopped Hill in just over three minutes Saturday night in Las Vegas and revealed his plan during his in-cage interview with Joe Rogan. Speaking with the media backstage later that night, Pereira added it’s up to the UFC to make it happen.
UFC 301 goes down May 4 and is headlined by Alexandre Pantoja vs. Steve Erceg for the flyweight championship, with Jose Aldo coming back from retirement to face Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event. Should Pereira be added to the card, those names could be bumped down a spot on the marquee.
“I want to fight, of course,” Pereira said in Portuguese. “I’ve said that I want to fight in Brazil but that’s not in my control. But I make it clear here that I want that. Let’s see what happens.”
Pereira became the UFC middleweight champion and decided to move up in weight after losing an immediate rematch to Israel Adesanya, and now holds a 3-0 record at light heavyweight.
“I’m evolving a lot and pretty quickly,” Pereira said, “so I think it’s time [to fight at heavyweight], and I can do it. It was 100 percent my idea. I have the height for that. And not only that, my weight isn’t on point yet but I’ve been gaining weight pretty fast with no extra strength training. If I do some strength training, I will definitely get there well.”
Pereira said he won’t call out any heavyweight for a potential clash at UFC 301, leaving it to the promotion to choose “whoever they feel is best” for the task.
“You have to be challenged,” Pereira said of his secret for greatness after conquering two belts in such a brief period of time in the UFC. “When we train for a fight we know there’s a great challenge ahead of us and I’m motivated by everything that’s happening right now. It makes me evolve and do my best. That’s what motivates me.”