The debate on who is the best heavyweight fighter in the MMA world has been ongoing for some time now. However, it is quite a subjective debate, with each individual advocating a different name. While many support Jon Jones, many others claim that Francis Ngannou is the greatest heavyweight fighter. But now, Alex Pereira has entered the scene after he hinted at his desire to move to the heavyweight division. And that urged the former UFC contender, Chael Sonnen, to pick the ‘Poatan’ as the world’s best heavyweight mixed martial artist. But why did ‘The American Gangster’ choose the LHW champ as the best HW contender? Well, let’s hear it directly from Sonnen!

During an episode of the ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ podcast, Daniel Cormier asked Sonnen about the fighter who he thought was the best heavyweight in the sport. While ‘The Bad Guy’ admitted that he was pretty impressed with Ngannou, he didn’t approve of his matchup against Renan Ferreira at PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants. The reason was simple enough. Not a lot of people knew about ‘Problema’ before the fight. 

This pushed Sonnen to make another choice. And he chose the man with the hands of stone. He said, “I’m gonna ride with Alex Pereira, I believe. Well, our heavyweight champion, our heavyweight champion that we’re discussing right now has fought one time in three years. Our other heavyweight champion has fought one time in four years, and only one time in the division.” 

While choosing Alex Pereira over Jon Jones was something that no one expected Sonnen to do, thus leaving DC in a state of absolute shock. But it seemed like ‘The American Gangster’ had his reasons to do so. Sonnen continued, “So for me to pick a guy that’s only threatened to come to the division, it’s not as crazy as you might think. And the reason I say, Pereira, by the way, it’s a matchup issue. I don’t think those guys can strike with him. I don’t think they’re going to be Mr Wrestlers and get him down. I think they gotta strike with him. And I’m taking Pereira. You want to know who the best striker in the heavyweight division is? It’s Alex Pereira. But I think the best striker would win the championship right now.”

Even Daniel Cormier agreed that Pereira was one of the strongest prospects in the UFC. Even though he didn’t believe the Brazilian champ to be the best heavyweight, he didn’t exclude him from the GOAT conversation.

Daniel Cormier puts ‘Poatan’ in the GOAT debate

In a recent episode of the ESPM MMA Show, DC made a revelation about the Brazilian star. He recollected an instance where Dana White was kind of skeptical regarding the ‘Poatan’. The last time Pereira fought with Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307, he defeated one of the strongest fighters to have ever graced the Octagon. And to win with another KO was what impressed the entire world. And the list also included the UFC head honcho.

Cormier said, “Dana had to eat crow last time Pereira fought. He said ‘I was wrong.’ He goes ‘I thought he would have came here and everybody would have just kept taking him down and he would have not had much success.’ He goes ‘I was so wrong on this guy.’ That is big coming from Dana, that is huge ’cause he doesn’t want to sit there and go ‘Ah, I’m not very good.’ Pereira has shown he can do that. Perera is in the conversation for the greatest of all time.”

It’s not like Cormier doesn’t believe Pereira has the potential to become the greatest fighter of all time. It’s just that he needed one more title before he became the GOAT. And it was indeed the heavyweight championship title. If Pereira rose to the HW division and became the 3-division champion, there was absolutely nothing that could stop him from becoming the greatest fighter the UFC has ever seen.

Who is your pick as the number one fighter in the heavyweight division? Do you agree with Sonnen’s pick? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.