Alex Pereira has already made a Hall of Fame resume with a handful of fights in the UFC. The former Glory Kickboxing double-champion has heavyweight ambitions in the UFC after he conquered middleweight and light heavyweight. One UFC fighter who can speak about fighting from heavyweight to middleweight is Jared Cannonier.
Cannonier began his UFC career at heavyweight before moving to light heavyweight and eventually middleweight, where he found the best success. After he defended the light heavyweight title at UFC 300 against Jamahal Hill, Pereira has remained vocal about his heavyweight ambitions. Cannonier only has nice things about Pereira if his dream comes to fruition.
It’ll be history-making for sure. Uh, man, what can, what I mean, what, what more can you say about that except for a legendary?
Jared Cannonier via THE SCHMO AND THE PRO
Cannonier stated there are no absolutes in MMA. As such, he stated that Pereria could become the first three-division UFC champion. ‘Tha Killa Gorilla‘ stated Pereira has Glover Teixeira by his side, which is a strong advantage for his heavyweight ambitions.
Jon Jones is the undisputed champion at heavyweight. Britain’s Tom Aspinall is the interim champion. Moreover, other fighters in the division are also bigger than Pereira. As such, Cannonier is also wary of Pereira’s success at heavyweight.
Jared Cannonier speaks on Alex Pereira’s disadvantages at heavyweight
An overwhelming section of the MMA community is not okay with what the UFC has done recently with the heavyweight division. The UFC has not stripped Jon Jones of the undisputed title despite inactivity. Moreover, Tom Aspinall will put his interim title on the line against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304, which many felt should’ve been for the undisputed title.
Alex Pereira (Image via: IMAGO)Many felt Jones had been ducking Aspinall, which became even more evident when he flirted with the idea of fighting Pereira. Dominick Reyes attributed this idea to Jones’s mental warfare. Nonetheless, Pereira has no qualms about fighting at heavyweight. However, Jared Cannonier stated in a recent interview that Pereira might have certain disadvantages at heavyweight.
The size would be the difference, the size, the strength. Um, he [Alex Pereira] would have to choose his opponents wisely because there’s a lot of really big, big, strong grapplers up there now. You know, [Tom] Aspinall’s up there. Um, I forgot the other guy’s name. There’s a guy from Romania, guys from Russia, [Sergei] Pavlovic. But there’s a lot of good wrestlers up there, not to mention Jon Jones, not to mention Stipe Miocic, not to mention all the other heavyweights that’s been in there for the longest.
Jared Cannonier via THE SCHMO AND THE PRO
As for Cannonier, he is in the main event of the UFC Louisville against Nassourdine Imavov on June 9. Cannonier has title aspirations if victorious against Imavov. However, the middleweight title picture is clear, and Cannonier is not on it. Therefore, he would likely have to face the winner of Paulo Costa vs. Sean Strickland, the co-main event of UFC 302 as well for title aspirations.
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