Alex Pereira vs. Dricus Du Plessis rivalry is slowly building up. The former middleweight champion saw how ‘Stillknocks’ beat his former rival who drove him out of the division and decided to take him on himself. However, the reigning middleweight champion refused to fight the Brazilian, at least at middleweight, and ‘Pereira’ seems to know why.
Alex Pereira recently sent out a video on his YouTube channel. In that video, ‘Poatan’ claimed that Dricus Du Plessis asked him to remain in the light heavyweight division because he was afraid of facing him at middleweight. Pereira had recently expressed interest in dropping back down to 185 pounds to challenge the South African. This was right after Du Plessis’ victory at UFC 305.
I think if I go down one more time I’ll do well. Explaining here what Dricus said, it seems like he’s a bit scared…he tried to make me scared but he was the one who is scared.
Alex Pereira on his YouTube channel
‘Poatan’ challenged ‘Stillknocks’ after he successfully defended his middleweight title at UFC 305. Du Plessis responded by suggesting that Pereira should stay at the 205-pound weight class. He implied that the light heavyweight champion might use the weight cut as an excuse if he loses.
👀😬Alex Pereira confirms he would be willing to move back down to middleweight to fight Dricus Du Plessis and thinks Dricus is afraid to fight him:
“When I went up in weight I said I could do this again, go down to middleweight but I need some time to recover. I think I was… pic.twitter.com/5XEjsdHSpI
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 24, 2024
Du Plessis’ coach even mentioned they would prefer the fight to happen at light heavyweight later this year. ‘Poatan’ was the reigning middleweight champion before he lost to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 and decided to move up weight classes. Now, amidst rumors of moving up to heavyweight, it looks like Pereira wants to grab his 185lbs title belt again instead.
Alex Pereira says Magomed Ankalaev declined to fight him amidst backlash for ducking the Russian
Alex Pereira has gone around making some interesting claims. After much backlash online for allegedly ducking Magomed Ankalaev, the Brazilian recently claimed that actually, it was Magomed Ankalaev who turned down a fight with him.
After Pereira successfully defended his UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 303, many expected him to face Ankalaev next. However, Pereira revealed that despite his willingness to fight Ankalaev, the Russian fighter declined the match.
I threw that to the organisation, left it very clear, but Ankalaev didn’t want to fight against me. I don’t know the reason, if it was the location if he just didn’t want.
Alex Pereira on his YouTube channel
Pereira emphasized that Ankalaev is not the champion and should not be the one making such decisions. The Brazilian also addressed criticism suggesting that he was avoiding Ankalaev and stated that he is not afraid of anyone and has proven himself against top-level competition both in MMA and kickboxing. ‘Poatan’ is currently scheduled to fight against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307.
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