Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira is not the 265lber the MMA community and UFC CEO Dana White needs right now. But he is the one they deserve — the Brazilian is ensuring that. With prime performances and how good he is, Pereira must fight in the heavyweight division. He has teased as much. With Jon Jones yet to return, Pereira teases fighting Tom Aspinall after UFC 307.
Alex Pereira retained his 205lb gold by battering Khalil Rountree in Round 4 of Saturday’s UFC 307 pay-per-view main event. Although he wanted to torture middleweights again by teasing a move down to 185 again, heavyweight is where the action lies. The UFC superstar has hinted as much for the third time in a row. He does so yet again on Instagram.
This is one of my favorite moments before a fight.
Alex Pereira via IG (@alexpoatanpereira)
Pereira reposted a snap of a death glare from the Brit when he entered the octagon for his maiden defense against Jamahal Hill. Pereira knocked out Hill to retain the light heavyweight gold, and UFC 307 marks three such defenses. With back-to-back shock performances, he’s now a prime value champ and a big PPV draw. A move up the ladder would only hoist that to even greater heights.
ALEX PEREIRA ON IG JUST NOW 👀@AspinallMMA pic.twitter.com/Xn9QCrhzmh
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) October 8, 2024
Tom Aspinall also isn’t unwilling to accept a piece of Pereira after his utter domination of peers. Meanwhile, Pereira would have the rare opportunity for a triple-division dip against the interim champ. If that’s not fuel enough, here’s a tidbit: Aspinall does not consider the snap his favorite! Aspinall’s close friend also recently pitched why Pereira is undeniably the No. 1 P4P after UFC 307.
Michael Bisping: Hard to ‘deny’ Alex Pereira is UFC’s #1 pound-for-pound fighter
Alex Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) notched his third title defense of gold with a fourth-round TKO at UFC 307. Rountree proved his most stylistic striking challenge yet, taking longer than usual. Now, the Brazilian has proved his mettle in a drawn-out affair. Michael Bisping believes Alex Pereira’s schedule strength makes him the world’s best pound-for-pound.
However, the pay-per-view top bill performance did not vary in the rankings. Except for some global outlets, Pereira is currently #2 in the official UFC pound-for-pound rankings behind Islam Makhachev. ‘The Count’ believed defending the title three times in seven months made him undeniable. He further argued that Poatan is the P4P No. 1 right now.
So, if you go through the top 10, it’s really hard to deny Alex Pereira is No. 1…To be pound-for-pound No. 1, you’ve got to be finishing people. You can’t be scraping by them with split decisions. You’ve got to do it in emphatic fashion, and I don’t think there’s anyone out there with the finishing ability of Alex Pereira. It is frightening what he can do.
Michael Bisping via his Official YT Channel (@bisping)
The only asterisk with Pereira’s reign is that he hasn’t faced a great wrestler while in charge. The Dagestani, or even close friend Tom Aspinall, treads ahead with their ground skills. Aspinall, specifically, is a surprise grappling treat who had his father as a BJJ instructor at Team Kaobon. However, Bisping praises ‘Poatan’ for the way he’s won his fights, knocking out his last four opponents.
