Alex Pereira is moving to heavyweight in pursuit of a third championship title in as many weight classes.
Granted, it will be an interim belt while reigning champion, Tom Aspinall, recovers from eye surgery, but that shouldn’t diminish what “Poatan” is attempting to accomplish. That said, not every dominant champion who moves up in weight is able to bring home the proverbial bacon.
Turns out it’s more than just skills, bro.
“It’s gonna be an interesting fight,” former UFC champion, Francis Ngannou,
told TMZ Sports. “Alex Pereira, he’s big enough, he’s a heavyweight. But in this scenario, the position shifted a little bit. Ciryl Gane comes with the strategy of a lighter person, he moves a lot, he’s fast. I think Alex Pereira will be more stiff, stable, and strong, solid. Ciryl will be more fast, moving around. This is his technique. He’s good at that. It’s going to be very difficult for Alex Pereira to even get close to the distance to figure out what he can do. Just to get in the distance, to get close, to close that distance, which Ciryl will be managing very good to keep the distance, pick apart, get him frustrated. I think it’s a very good matchup for Ciryl Gane.”
Ngannou defeated Gane at UFC 270 in what would be the final fight of his UFC career.
The 39 year-old “Predator” was released by PFL earlier this year and took his talents to MVP for the upcoming “Rousey vs. Carano” fight card on May 16 in Los Angeles. Sadly, it’s likely we’ll never see Ngannou back inside the Octagon for super fights against Pereira or Jon Jones, thanks to this backstage incident.
