Back in August, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira turned the MMA world upside down when he announced, “Coming down to 185 one more time,” shortly after Dricus du Plessis defended his middleweight title for the first time against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in Perth. Since then, every MMA analyst has been puzzled due to ‘Poatan’s’ problematic history with the 185-pound weight class, which previously led him to move up to a higher division.

Fans are left wondering whether Pereira is truly returning to the middleweight division and, if so, whether he can dethrone the undefeated ‘Stillknocks’. While we might not have the answers yet, former UFC fighter Michael Bisping might.

Michael Bisping doubts Alex Pereira’s chance against Dricus du Plessis

After delivering one of the best performances of his career against Jiri Prochazka, Alex Pereira had fans buzzing in June when he hinted at moving up to heavyweight to fight Jon Jones. It had everyone hyped for what could’ve been the biggest showdown ever. But then ‘Poatan’ dropped a bombshell, saying he’s actually planning to cut back down to middleweight, totally crushing those hopes.

Michael Bisping recently brought this up on his YouTube channel while chatting with Anthony Smith. Bisping asked, “ What do you think about Pereira wanting to go down to 185?” trying to pick Smith’s brain on the whole situation. Smith completely dismissed the idea of seeing ‘Poatan’ at 185 pounds, considering the statement a publicity stunt to attract media attention. He said, ” I just have a tough time seeing that. It doesn’t seem like it’s even possible, so I don’t take it very seriously because I don’t know that he can make it.”

As Anthony Smith continued his remark, Michael Bisping interrupted to remind him that Dana White had approved the fight between Du Plessis and Pereira. Bisping personally expressed skepticism about it happening, pointing out Pereira’s disappointing performance against Israel Adesanya at UFC 287, where Adesanya knocked ‘Poatan’ out cold and reclaimed his belt. Bisping said, ” He knocked him out because he has to kill himself; the man’s gigantic. So he has to kill himself to make 185. What is he going to go back down to 185 to fight Dricus if Izzy can knock him out? If Izzy has the power to do that, then Dricus has as well.”

Like other fight analysts, Anthony Smith and Michael Bisping have completely rejected the idea of ‘Poatan’s’ returning to dominate the middleweight division again. They see no reason to believe Pereira will compete at 185 pounds. However, Chael Sonnen offers a different perspective. Instead of questioning whether Pereira ‘really’ will return Sonnen focuses on the ‘why’ behind his drop to 185 pounds, which he recently discussed on his podcast.

Chael Sonnen decodes Alex Pereira’s intention to move to 185

MMA fans never thought they would witness the complex ‘frienemy’ relationship between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira after seeing their rivalry not only in the UFC but also during their kickboxing days in the GLORY promotion, where ‘Poatan’ was consistently seen as the top middleweight contender. This rivalry persisted into the UFC, but eventually, the animosity waned when Pereira moved to the light heavyweight division. Despite this, they still share a bittersweet friendship, a fact recently highlighted by Chael Sonnen on his YouTube podcast.

Sonnen claimed that after Dricus du Plessis defeated Adesanya, Pereira decided to avenge his friend’s loss and restore his honor. Sonnen believes, “It didn’t have a lot to do with Du Plessis. It was the final nail in his battle, or the most recent nail in his battle, against Adesanya. He wanted to come in as the big brother to protect his little brother, which Izzy doesn’t want, by the way. I’m just saying, there was a condescending message that was supposed to be picked up, and nobody picked it up. They missed it.”

As far-fetched as it sounds, Sonnen paints an interesting narrative. Before UFC 305, Pereira expressed his support for Adesanya against Du Plessis, despite ‘Stylebender’ always picking Pereira’s opponents over the Brazilian. The reason? ‘Poatan’ felt that Adesanya’s achievements made his wins over the Kiwi all the more respectable.

And to Sonnen’s point, yes, there is a ‘big brother’ angle to this situation. Pereira’s first LHW fight at UFC was against the same fighter Adesanya’s first LHW fight was. ‘Izzy’ came up short in his ‘champ champ’ quest against then-champion Jan Blachowicz. Meanwhile, Pereira showed his mettle on the ground and on the feet to eke out a split-decision win. If he beats Du Plessis for the middleweight title, that would be another step ahead in his race against Adesanya.

What do you think about Anthony Smith’s remarks? Do you also believe that Dricus du Plessis could knock out Alex Pereira? Drop your opinion below.