Coming out of UFC 307, fans are buzzing about the possibility of a showdown between Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and interim Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. After Pereira secured his third title defense by finishing Khalil Rountree in Round 4 of their UFC 307 headliner, he hinted at his future ambitions.
While he plans to remain in the 205-pound division for now, Pereira expressed interest in eventually moving up to heavyweight. Fueling speculation, Pereira shared an image of Aspinall watching his fight, sparking intrigue from analysts, including former fighter Chael Sonnen.
Sonnen is captivated by the potential matchup but remains skeptical about how Aspinall would handle Pereira’s grappling.
Questions Raised
“I cannot guarantee you that the younger, bigger guy in Tom would win,” Sonnen commented on his YouTube channel. “There’s something special about Alex, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. But I don’t know that Tom has the skills to just go out and take him down, so we might have to take that off the board.”
Sonnen elaborated on the challenges Aspinall might face: “I think Alex would have a really hard time getting up because of the size, but to get him there, Tom’s probably going to want to trade. He might have a little bit of ego, like everybody else, thinking, ‘Let me show you,’ and it might work out for him. But it could also be a very dangerous proposition.”
For now, Aspinall’s immediate focus is on the heavyweight division. He’s awaiting a fight against the winner of the upcoming heavyweight title bout between champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, which headlines UFC 309.
