Even before making it to 2025, fans are already excited about the announcement of a few big fights by Dana White, in the upcoming first pay-per-view of next year. One of those highly anticipated fights involves former light heavyweight champions Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka, which is believed to be a possible no.1 contender’s clash. However, we have a few reasons, as per our analysis, why giving the winner a title shot against Alex Pereira may not be the correct approach for the UFC CEO.

UFC 311 is packed with two exciting title fights, where four wrestling-heavy fighters will be featured in the co-main and main event spots. Prior to those two bouts, we’ll have the only light heavyweight bout on the main card –  Jamahal Hill vs Jiri Prochazka, both of whom want another shot to reclaim their lost gold. But there is no point in fighting Alex Pereira, at least immediately, because they’ve both terribly lost to him in their past encounters.

Alex Pereira has brutally KO’ed them both

When Jiri Prochazka returned to reclaim his throne at UFC 295 for the first time after recovering from his shoulder injury, fans were expecting a pretty close fight between him and Alex Pereira when the vacant 205-pound was on the line. However, Pereira needed just over a round to knock out the Czech star with a barrage of strikes that led to an elbow turning Prochazka’s lights out.

Following that loss, Jiri Prochazka took a backseat and Jamahal Hill stepped in after he returned from his injury. ‘Sweet Dreams’ got to take on Alex Pereira in one of the biggest events ever, UFC 300, but failed to edge past ‘Poatan’, who knocked him out in the first round. Although there was a bit of controversy surrounding the way that fight ended, Pereira made sure to silence his doubters in his next title defense when Prochazka returned for another shot at redemption.

However, Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira both stepped up on short notice for their UFC 303 rematch after Conor McGregor pulled out of his comeback fight against Michael Chandler. But the same result repeated as the Czech star succumbed to yet another knockout loss from a well-timed head kick by the Brazilian phenom, this time in the second round. Meanwhile, there is one fighter that makes sense for ‘Poatan’ to fight, and that’s the No.1-ranked light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev.

Magomed Ankalaev deserves it more than Hill or Prochazka

One of the few fighters who’ve been undefeated for years is Magomed Ankalaev, who hasn’t dropped the ball since his debut loss in the UFC against Paul Craig back in 2018. Having recorded six finishes in his 14-fight career under the promotion’s banner, the Russian star has made his case for a claim to a title shot as well. Ankalaev has been calling for a title shot for a while now, even before Alex Pereira became champion, but his requests have gone unheard.

However, Dana White did lay down the conditions for Magomed Ankalaev if he wanted a title shot. “Look great,” said Dana White to the Russian star prior to his fight against Aleksandar Rakić at UFC 308. If he put on a good performance, the UFC CEO claimed he would have no hesitations to put Ankalaev right into the mix against Alex Pereira. Although he won, the 20-1-1 star didn’t really get a chance to showcase an exciting performance against Rakic, despite extending his record to 19-1-1 (1NC).

For many fans, it’s long overdue for Magomed Ankalaev to get his title shot, but if that doesn’t happen, Alex Pereira could turn his focus to a mega-fight. Let’s explore the possible route for the light heavyweight champion.

Alex Pereira could get a super-fight

After Conor McGregor, whose comeback is still looming under a cloud of uncertainty, Alex Pereira has stood out to be a real star for the UFC. Now, at the peak of his stardom in the sport, ‘Poatan’ has made fans out of the whole MMA community, irrespective of their nationality, and this has brought him to such a spot where fans want him to take on the best of the best.

After fighting Israel Adesanya, who’s a UFC superstar in his own right, Alex Pereira hasn’t really had the opportunity to engage in a high-profile super-fight. Dana White has all the options he needs to select a super-fight opponent for the light heavyweight champion, starting with Jon Jones. The undisputed heavyweight champion claims to be looking for a legacy fight, and for that, he explicitly wants to fight Pereira.

On the other hand, Alex Pereira also has a potential opponent at middleweight in divisional champion Dricus du Plessis, who also mentioned having no problems in fighting the Brazilian ace. In fact, the South African star is even willing to make the jump to 205 pounds to fight ‘Poatan’. These two opponents could certainly make up for an exciting big-league fight for the Pereira.

At this point, nothing’s really certain about what Alex Pereira will do next. Furthermore,  Dana White believes he’s got quite a few defenses to make. What do you think? Will it be the winner of Jiri Prochazka, Jamahal Hill, or Magomed Ankalaev, or does the UFC CEO have a different plan in mind for one of the biggest stars on his roster? Let us know in the comments down below.