Chael Sonnen seems to appreciate UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira a lot. In a recent interview, Sonnen sang a lot of praise for ‘Poatan’. According to Sonnen, no other athlete has been as successful as Pereira in two different fields.
Chael Sonnen recently made an appearance on The Zach Gelb Show. In that episode, the newly inducted Hall of Famer made some bold claims about how good two-division champion Alex Pereira truly is. Sonnen went as far as to compare him to sports legend, Bo Jackson.
I’m old enough to remember when Bo Jackson was playing football and went and played baseball, but he wasn’t 36 when he started and he didn’t become the best in the world. I have never seen a rise like this… This might be the greatest athlete of all time.
Chael Sonnen on The Zach Gelb Show
Pereira had a glorified career in kickboxing. He was the first simultaneous two-division champion in Glory Kickboxing history. Pereira held a kickboxing record of 33-7 with 21 knockouts and was a Glory middleweight and light heavyweight champion.
He did the same when he transitioned into the UFC even though Dana White was not sure if ‘Poatan’ would thrive inside an octagon. However, with just nine fights into the promotion, Pereira won two UFC division titles and made two successful title defenses, both on short notice. He recently defeated Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 delivering one of the promotion’s biggest fights in recent PPV history.
Jorge Masvidal does not want Alex Pereira to move up to the heavyweight division
Alex Pereira has become a superstar in the UFC. With just nine fights under his belt, the Brazilian has cemented his name with the likes of Conor McGregor, Israel Adesanya, and others. However, the light heavyweight champion wants to create history by moving up weight classes one more time. But some people in MMA are against this idea.
Jorge Masvidal on Alex Pereira moving to heavyweight (Image via Imago)Jorge Masvidal recently made an appearance in an episode of the Full Send Podcast. There he talked about Alex Pereira and his incredible run in the UFC. However, while everybody wants Pereira to make history and fight in the heavyweight division, Masvidal wants Pereira to continue in the light heavyweight division.
I don’t want to see him move up to heavyweight. I really like this spot that he’s in right now… Let him do his thing and cement himself at 205lbs before they have him move up to heavyweight with nothing but uncomfortable match-ups… I personally want him to stay at 205, but there are still some good match-ups. But whatever he does, I’m going to be watching.
Jorge Masvidal on the Full Send Podcast
Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal Sit Down on the Full Send Podcast! pic.twitter.com/M5Zt5zDkmr
— Nelk Boys (@nelkboys) July 5, 2024
Pereira moving up to heavyweight has been in the plans for a while now. Top fighters in the division like Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones are ready to welcome him into the octagon. If the Brazilian claims the heavyweight belt, he will be the first three-division champion in UFC history.
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