Alex Pereira recently suffered his first-ever upset at the hands of his arch-rival Israel Adesanya in their long-standing seven-year-long rivalry. Adesanya, who had been on a roll, managed to outclass the Brazilian in a stunning performance at UFC 287 and reclaimed the championship belt. Following this setback, the determined Brazilian announced his move up to the light heavyweight division for his next fight. Although the fans were eagerly anticipating a trilogy fight between him and ‘The Last Stylebender’, the 35-year-old has moved up and dominate a different weight class altogether.
On this subject, UFC veteran Chael Sonnen has offered an intriguing insight into Pereira’s graph in the light heavyweight division. The 45-year-old feels that the former middleweight champion would soon be in line to fight for the title shot in the light heavyweight division. Sonnen even offered a rather interesting timeframe for that to occur.
Chael Sonnen foresees a super quick title shot for Alex Pereira
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In his recent YouTube video, Chael Sonnen wasted no time in addressing Alex Pereira‘s move to the light heavyweight division. Upon discussing the subject, the 45-year-old MMA analyst stated that given the caliber that ‘Poatan’ holds, it shouldn’t take long to get the opportunity of a title shot in the light heavyweight division.
“Pereira is probably the most skilled guy, from a technical standpoint… There wouldn’t be a huge problem if Pereira was just to go 205 and go right against [Jamahal]Hill.”, said the UFC veteran.
He continued, “There wouldn’t be a huge problem… I just share for you that, Pereira is likely no more than one win away from being in that main event title fight with whoever happens to have the belt at that time.”
Having said that, it seems that the Brazilian fighter has already caught the attention of the reigning light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill, who has sent him a ‘welcome’ message. And owing to the anticipation of this, Pereira is already on the lookout for the challenge in this new territory.
Pereira is on the hunt for the new challenge
Right after officially moving up to the light heavyweight division, Alex Pereira sent out a message to the division. He’s asking for all the light heavyweights who called him out previously.
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Where are now the LHW, who were talking about me, when I was in middleweight ? 😶
— Alex "Poatan" Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) April 14, 2023
In his message, he wrote, “Where are now the LHW, who were talking about me, when I was in middleweight ? 😶”
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It’s clear that Pereira is hungry to showcase his dominance in this new weight class. And perhaps what Chael Sonnen said about ‘Poatan’ getting a title shot after one fight could potentially be the case. Do you think Alex Pereira can excel in the Light Heavyweight division? Let us know in the comments below.
Watch this story: Who Will Alex Pereira Fight After UFC 287?
