Few fighters have even competed in three weight classes, let alone fight for a title. Yet Alex Pereira is about to attempt to make history next month against Ciryl Gane at the White House.
In an unprecedented move, 'Poatan' is about to challenge for his third belt in the UFC.
Pereira, who joined the UFC as a middleweight, is about to make his debut in the UFC's heavyweight division. This comes after he regained his title by defeating Magomed Ankalaev, virtually clearing the light heavyweight division. As he prepares to face Ciryl Gane, 'Poatan' is now training with real heavyweights.
On his social media, Pereira shared some footage of himself sparring with No. 15 ranked UFC heavyweight Tallison Teixeira. From the looks of the footage, it appears Pereira is adjusting to his new weight class as a fish adjusts to water. The UFC double champion looked sharp in the clips, tagging Teixeira with a couple of clean punches.
At 6'7″, typically weighing around 259lbs, Teixeira is a good yardstick for Pereira to see how he measures up against the UFC heavyweight division. But Teixeira wasn't the only towering heavyweight Poatan sparred with. He also took on 2-0 Rizin heavyweight, King Edokpolo.
Standing 6'8″, the lanky heavyweight towered over Alex Pereira. However, the UFC double champion closed the distance well in the sparring footage, forcing his partner to shell up. But Pereira didn't limit his sparring partners to MMA fighters as he also took on Cuban boxer, Yordan Fuentes.
Pereira outboxed the professional boxer in the sparring footage, landing some clean counters on Fuentes. Moreover, Pereira's head movement looks to have improved, with the Brazilian slipping Fuentes' punches with minimal effort. It appears as though Pereira is moving away from the tendency that, according to Sean Strickland, makes him a nightmare to spar.
Alex Pereira looks like a natural in this weight class and does not have the junkiness one would associate with a move up in weight. The double champion actually commented on being a heavyweight now and revealed how much he plans to weigh in his heavyweight debut.
Alex Pereira weighed in at 226.2lbs at 10% body fat outside of camp when he was competing at middleweight. Clearly, Poatan has always been a natural heavyweight. The Brazilian star reportedly also weighed in at over 220lbs in his stint at light heavyweight.
However, 'Poatan' has something different in mind for his upcoming fight against Ciryl Gane. In an interview with the New York Post Sports, Pereira revealed that he felt too heavy as a middleweight. So, this time around, Poatan and his team have set a target weight for his heavyweight debut.
I was a very heavy middleweight, and I was feeling it. Now I'm walking around like 113 kilograms (249lbs)ā¦ At some point, it just becomes natural, your natural weight, and this is how I'm feeling right now. I don't want to be too heavy. That's why we're going through a lot of protocol for that, a lot of planning. I want to be about 110 kilograms (242 pounds).
Alex Pereira via New York Post SportsPereira believes he has outgrown his previous divisions with his natural weight now being attuned to the UFC's heaviest weight class. That said, weighing in at 242lbs will mean he will be around the same weight as his opponent, Ciryl Gane. However, Pereira will still be at a near 20lbs disadvantage at 242lbs if he ends up facing Tom Aspinall, who typically weighs in at around 260lbs.
Nonetheless, it appears that Pereira has dialed in all aspects of his training with his heavyweight debut only a month away. His opponent, Ciryl Gane, is also doing all he can to prepare for Poatan, even enlisting the help of the last man to beat the Brazilian in kickboxing.
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