Alex Pereira is going with the flow of things, despite the historical accomplishments that could head to his already loaded résumé.
“Poatan,” a former two-division world champion, moves up the heavyweight division to fight for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC White House this Sunday. Pereira faces Ciryl Gane, and with a win, Pereira becomes the first fighter in UFC history to win titles in three different weight classes. In fact, UFC CEO Dana White says if Pereira does get
the job done, he would leapfrog Jon Jones in the GOAT conversation.
When asked what the moment would mean to him, and if it would be the greatest accomplishment of his career, Pereira remained indifferent.
“I think everything that I achieved has its own importance,” Pereira told MMA Fighting through a translator. “For an example, when I beat defeated Adesanya, like I say, it was a very important moment to me. [This opportunity] is a huge moment too, to being present and winning the third belt.
“So it would not be fair for me to just say that this is the most [significant] versus the other ones. I think everything that I’ve been building has been very important to me.”
The White House lineup was announced during the UFC 326 broadcast in March, with Ilia Topuria facing Justin Gaethje in the main event, and Pereira facing Gane in the co-main event for interim gold while heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall remains on the mend with his eye injury.
Pereria was rumored to possibly face Jon Jones at the event, and when it was revealed to the public he’d be facing Gane, the star fighters says it was actually news to him.
“I found out the same way that everybody else found out,” Pereira said. “I renegotiated my contract for eight fights before that, then negotiating that, I expressed my intention [that] I wanted to fight at the White House. They said it might not happen, and I went, signed a contract deal, the fight deal, and I told them, ‘Whatever you guys want to do, I’m fine.‘
“And then when they announced, everybody didn’t even know. When everybody else found out, I found out that I was fighting at the White House too.”
Aspinall’s eye injury stemmed from his heavyweight title defense against Gane at UFC 321 this past October. Despite early success from Gane, Aspinall was poked in the eyes by his opponent and rendered him unable to continue, leading it to be declared a no-contest, and the U.K. star on the sidelines indefinitely.
Pereira was asked about what he saw in the short bit of the title fight that played out in Abu Dhabi.
“Well, it’s hard to have a take on that fight cause things happened early,” Pereira said. “But [it] had the thing that happen, the eye poke that is unfortunate to have happened, you know what I mean? Unfortunate things happen, but look at the fight. Both are strong. Both talented, and I’m ready to fighter Ciryl Gane. I think it’s going to be a great fight.”
Aspinall has declared his interest in facing the winner of the Pereira vs. Gane bout, which would be a pretty big fight regardless of who walks out of the South Lawn with interim gold.
For Pereira, whether it’s Aspinall, or King Kong, if the UFC calls him for a fight, he’ll be there — outside of one exception.
“Brother, I’m an employee of the UFC,” Pereira explained. “So it doesn’t matter who they put on.
“As long as the guy has two arms and two legs, not like Goro from Mortal Kombat [and] they have 4 arms, I’m fighting.”
