Last month, Alex Pereira, the reigning light heavyweight king, sent shockwaves through the MMA world with a bold announcement: he’s dropping back down to the 185-pound division to dethrone middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis. Fresh off a successful title defense, Pereira’s decision caught many off guard, especially since he had teased moving up to face heavyweight stars like Tom Aspinall or Jon Jones.

Some fans speculated this move was fueled by ego—after all, Pereira had been forced to jump to light heavyweight following his loss to Israel Adesanya. But not everyone sees it that way. UFC fighter-turned-analyst Chael Sonnen has a different take on ‘Poatan’s’ decision, and his insight may just shift how we view this unexpected move.

So, what’s the real motivation behind Pereira’s return to middleweight? Let’s dive into Sonnen’s perspective.

Chael Sonnen claims to decode the reason behind Poatan’s move to 185

In his recent YouTube, Chael Sonnen refuted critics’ claims that Alex Pereira’s move to fight Dricus du Plessis was solely about capturing the middleweight title belt. Instead, Sonnen offered a different perspective, dismissing other claims. He emphasized ‘Poatan’s status as a dual champion, stating, “He has already become the champion of the world in two different weight classes, so when he puts out the message, ‘ I’m coming after Du Plessis,’ 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 the his battle, against Adesanya.”

According to Chael Sonnen, Israel Adesanya is the driving force behind Alex Pereira’s return to the middleweight division. After their rivalry, Pereira and Adesanya eventually became friends, highlighted by the viral airport encounter last year in Australia, where Pereira streamed a live video on Instagram. Since then, fans have seen Adesanya and ‘Poatan’ as close, with Adesanya being viewed as an older brother to Pereira, especially by fans. Sonnen further elaborated on this sentiment, stating, “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 pick it up. They missed it.”

Whether or not Alex Pereira’s decision to return to 185 pounds is influenced by his relationship with Israel Adesanya remains uncertain. However, one thing is clear Dricus du Plessis is not intimidated by Pereira’s presence. ‘Stillknocks’ has accepted the challenge without hesitation and even offered Pereira an advantageous move, which could work in Pereira’s favor.

Dricus du Plessis claps back at Alex Pereira

With just a few fights in the promotion, South African phenom Dricus du Plessis has proven to be a force to be reckoned with. Since his debut against Markus Perez in 2020, Su Plessis has maintained an impressive eight-fight win streak, which earned him a title fight against Sean Strickland. Earlier this year, in January at UFC 297, du Plessis defeated Strickland to claim the middleweight title. Despite critics questioning his fighting skills, ‘Stillknocks’ has stood out with his unique style.

When Alex Pereira announced, “I’m going down to 84kg again. Coming down to 185 one more time,” Du Plessis accepted the challenge without hesitation. He responded with a cold warning, referencing Pereira’s previous defeat at the hands of Israel Adesanya, saying, “If Izzy [Israel Adesanya] stiffens you [Pereira] like that, you do not want to be in there with me… You don’t have to cut weight so you have some sort of excuse. I’ll come up to 205 and we’ll sort it out there.”

What are your thoughts on Chael Sonnen’s remark about why Alex Pereira is moving back to 185? Do you think it’s a valid reason? Drop your opinion below.