Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, who now serves as MMA analyst and “Fight Night” commentator, believes former two-division champion, Alex Pereira, becomes the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) with a victory over Ciryl Gane — and third division title — at UFC White House on Sunday in Washington, DC.
“Matchups come into it, but you can’t deny the fact that he would be the only three-weight division champion,” Bisping told casino.org/us. “It’s never been done before. So, you can slice it any
way you want. You can say, ‘who was the only person that became a champion in three weight divisions’ and it’s Alex Pereira. So he’d be the greatest of all time then. It’s as simple as that. On accolades alone, it becomes undeniable.”
UFC CEO, Dana White, also believes a victory over Gane makes “Poatan” the UFC GOAT.
“It’s a little too soon,” UFC analyst and part-time “Fight Night” commentator, Laura Sanko, told MMA Junkie. “It’s a little bit too soon for me, personally. If he’s able to do that, the frothiness in me is like, ‘Yes, you’re the greatest of all time.’ But then I sit back and I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, Jon Jones resume is just — it’s not the same. It’s not the same.’ Alex Pereira has been unbelievable, and he’s been one of one. I will tell you this: I don’t know if anyone will ever do that again if he does it. One of one in history, but I don’t know if I’m ready to give him the GOAT.”
Sounds like Sanko is not the only one pumping the brakes.
“It’s promoter talk,” retired UFC welterweight, Matt Brown, said on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “It’s pretty simple, and we can just narrow it down to that and that’s Dana talking what he’s supposed to talk. No one’s really buying it. Maybe some Brazilian fan of Alex Pereira that doesn’t really watch UFC is buying it. But I don’t think any halfway knowledgeable person is buying it. Sometimes what gets confused is most accomplished and greatest. It terms of most accomplished, I guess if [Pereira] wins a third title, you could make that argument. I still wouldn’t think it’s the case, but I could see where you could make that argument. He’s got three titles. No one else ever did it.”
The only downside? It’s the interim title while Tom Aspinall recovers from eye surgery.
Jon Jones (28-1, 1 NC) is widely-considered the best of all time, holding multiple UFC records (including most title fight wins at 16) after capturing division titles at both heavyweight and light heavyweight. As for Pereira (13-3), he might need to beat Gane then vanquish Aspinall to unify the straps in order to join the UFC GOAT conversation.
For more on Pereira’s UFC White House fight click here.
