Former UFC middleweight champion, Alex Pereira reacts to his next matchup against Jan Blachowicz, this time at light-heavyweight.
Just over three months on from his brutal knockout loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287, Pereira will be returning to action. Along with several other exciting matchups, it was recently announced the ‘Poatan’ will be making his awaited move up in weight class, and would be taking on former 205lbs champion, Blawhowicz.
Blachowicz is currently ranked No.3 in at light-heavyweight and with the current state of the division, any big win could see anyone ranked one through five could see themselves in a title fight.
“My next opponent will be Jan Blachowicz,” Pereira said via his YouTube channel. “He is a dangerous guy, an experienced guy, and a guy we know because of my training partner, Glover Teixeira, who fought him. I’m sure training hard and together with Glover, he will pass me a lot of stuff for sure like he is always doing.” (H/T MMA Mania)
Alex Pereira not surprised by big fight for first at 205lbs
While it is a huge opportunity for someone coming off a loss and moving up, Pereira said he expected one of this magnitude and is ready to challenge himself at a different weight.
“Everybody knows Blachowicz is a dangerous guy, an all-rounder, but I think it’s a good first fight for me,” said Pereira. “When I saw my first fight, some people will think, ‘Oh, that’s an easy opponent.’ No. All of you know my story. I was Middleweight champ. So, for sure, they wanted to give me one of the Top 5 ranked [guys]. For me, it wasn’t a surprise. We were negotiating a while, I was waiting for him. So, that’s it.”
The pair will fight in the co-main event slot of UFC 291 On July 29 in what will be a battle between two serious power punchers.
Who wins, Alex Pereira or Jan Blachowicz?
