Michael Bisping sees UFC 335 dictating Alex Pereira's future.
Pereira (13-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) will look to rebound when he takes on Sergei Pavlovich (20-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in a five-round co-main event Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+). While former two-division UFC champion Pereira had plenty of success starching people at middleweight and light heavyweight, Bisping warns "Poatan" that heavyweight is different.
"Could this be the end of Alex Pereira?" Bisping said on his YouTube channel. "I'm not saying it is. There is a world where he even wins this fight. And by the way, if he can go out there and take out a top contender like Sergei Pavlovich, then he's back in the running, then he will probably fight the winner between Ciryl Gane
and Josh Hokit. But it's a big if because Pereira's style is kind of flat-footed. Yes, he has ridiculous power, and he's given us some spectacular knockouts with the left hooks, with the head kicks.
"Every shot that he throws has ridiculous power, but he's not nice and light on his feet. He's not spritely, he's not on his toes, he's not overly agile. He goes forward, he gets the rhythm, and bang! One shot puts people to sleep. ... But at heavyweight, it's not quite as effective. The guys can take the bigger shots, and they can land the bigger shots, and they are naturally that size. They haven't put the weight on by force."
Pereira lost his heavyweight debut when he was finished by Ciryl Gane for the interim belt at UFC Freedom 250. Bisping says a loss to Pavlovich could signal the end of Pereira's career.
"If he loses to Pavlovich, and there's a real possibility of that, then where does he go from there?" Bisping said. "Because he's not going to be in line for a title shot any time soon. He wouldn't have to win one, he would have to win two or three, and does Alex Pereira want to do that? Does he want to be just a contender in the heavyweight division?
"Or does he just want title fights only? Because given his resume, he could go back to 205 and go straight into a title fight, but he doesn't want to do that. ... Then you factor in how much money the man has made over the course of his career. The man gets paid handsomely – very, very handsomely. I don't know the number, but it's definitely more than $5 million per fight. He's made a fortune."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Analyst wonders if UFC 335 could be 'the end of Alex Pereira'
