A Brand New UFC Fight Deal for a Newly Transformed ‘Poatan’
While appearing on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’ on March 16th, former Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion, Alex Pereira, announced that he has signed a new deal with the UFC. His new eight-fight deal with the company comes after a big fight announcement at the White House card this summer, where he moves up to Heavyweight to fight Ciryl Gane for the Interim Heavyweight title. ‘Poatan’ has been one of the busiest and most successful athletes on the roster over the past few years, so it only makes sense that he signed a big deal before this historic event. He affirms that the UFC has treated him well throughout his tenure there, and many fans can expect to see a newer ‘Poatan’ this summer as a result.
Pereira’s last fight was a TKO victory against Magomed Ankalaev in October of last year, lasting just over a minute. ‘Poatan’ made sure to earn his redemption and get his belt back after losing the previous fight to Ankalaev in a unanimous decision. After having dominated the Light Heavyweight Division for almost three years, the Brazilian-born fighter looks for a new challenge…the Heavyweight Division. It was only a matter of time until Pereira moved up another weight class, given that he’s defeated a majority of the Light Heavyweight Division already. There is no doubt that Pereira has a difficult task ahead of him in Gane, another powerful striker, but ‘Poatan’ is one to chase after challenges like these.
Pereira has previously expressed interest in moving up to Heavyweight to do a superfight with Jon Jones, potentially at the White House card. However, with recent news of Jones asking for a release from the UFC, there is not a likely chance that a superfight would happen anytime soon. If Pereira were to defeat Gane for the interim title, he would then be in line to possibly fight the undisputed champion, Tom Aspinall, at a later date. Pereira would then chase history, where a win against Aspinall would mean he’d be the first-ever triple-champ in UFC history. ‘Poatan’ has already put forth a Hall-of-Fame-worthy career thus far, but a new belt for the superstar would just be the icing on the cake.
