The UFC and Alex Pereira are making good use of the downtime at the end of 2024. With the promotion on a three-week break from events, the conversation around many of the UFC’s top stars hasn’t stopped.
Pereira is arguably the biggest active star, and he’s launched himself into the forefront of the conversation during the UFC’s downtime. Pereira ignited the MMA community earlier in the week with a simple post that indicated his next fight would not be against No. 1 contender Magomed Ankalaev.
No one is entirely sure that was the point of Pereira’s post, but the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion didn’t give an effort to convince a legion of critics otherwise. On Friday, Pereira kept the intrigue going with a video.
According to Pereira, he’d just left a meeting in Las Vegas, and he has big news on the way. Here is a look at the video which was posted by Full Send MMA.
Pereira was smiling from ear to ear in the video and even asked one of his compatriots if he should reveal the news that has him so happy. Continuing the tease, Pereira left the cliffhanger that has me and others in the MMA community speculating about his next move.
You have to love and appreciate the champion’s understanding of the game and how it benefits him to generate intrigue around his next moves.
Everyone knows the most appropriate fight Pereira could have is a scrap against Ankalaev. As I mentioned in another story, Ankalaev is the only No. 1 contender in the UFC who hasn’t had a shot at the current champion or doesn’t have a fight scheduled against the reigning titleholder.
Even still, rumors have begun to circulate about a potential fight between Pereira and middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev. Some were surprised when former champion Sean Strickland was given the opportunity to rematch current champion Dricus du Plessis over Chimaev, following his dominant submission win over Robert Whittaker.
The UFC seems very interested in having Chimaev get a title shot.
Chimaev is a naturally big guy who could probably make light heavyweight with very little problem. Stylistically, he would appear to be someone suited to give Pereira a tough time because of his wrestling prowess.
However, we haven’t seen how Chimaev will perform at 205 pounds, especially not against arguably the most dangerous striker in mixed martial arts. Perhaps that’s all just a collaborative tease from the UFC and Pereira, and the plan is as simple and straightforward as the champion defending against Ankalaev.
Maybe the huge surprise UFC President Dana White teased on December 14 is some sort of crossover fight between Pereira and someone like Jake Paul in boxing? That would potentially qualify as something no one saw coming—besides me, of course.
We may find out the truth soon.
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