Dricus Du Plessis became the first fighter to submit Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. Soon after, former kingpin Alex Pereira teased his return to the middleweight division. For any of this to become reality, “Poatan” naturally needs to beat Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 first.
Fans and Dana White have acknowledged Pereira’s plans to move down a weight class. The CEO is impressed by the UFC light heavyweight champion’s willingness to fight wherever, whenever, and whoever. He claimed that this trait makes Pereira such a massive star.
However, Chael Sonnen believes that Pereira calling out Du Plessis is not personal but more about gaining an indirect edge over Israel Adesanya…
Chael Sonnen Sees Alex Pereira Defeating Dricus Du Plessis As ‘Final Nail In The Coffin Of His Rivalry With Adesanya’
In the latest episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy on the ESPN MMA YouTube channel, Daniel Cormier and Sonnen discussed how likely Pereira is to move down to middleweight. Both hosts think that Du Plessis coming up to light heavyweight for this fight makes far more sense.
“Like, if you’re seeking a championship and you could have it at 205 pounds, 185 is beneath you and not to mention, DDP could have laughed this off and said, wait a minute, you’re telling me the guy knocked out by the guy that I just finished in the third round is threatening to come back to a division that he already ran away from. Come on down, I mean, because, no, this is never going to happen. Alex was not sincere, now he is sincerely tough and he will fight anybody but he can’t make 185 pounds.”
The former UFC heavyweight champ highlighted that “Poatan” won’t be at his best because of the brutal weight cut for middleweight. On top of that, Du Plessis should not be overlooked as his unconventional style has done wonders until now.
According to “The American Gangster”, Pereira’s potential return to middleweight is unrelated to UFC gold. Instead, he aims to get a win over the fighter who just beat Adesanya, arguably the most important rival of his career.
“Make sure you don’t miss the play here. Like, Alex is tough and he will fight anybody but the play here was a final nail in the coffin of his rivalry with Adesanya. This was a big brother play. This was to be condescending. This was to say, you couldn’t deal, hey, big brother’s got your back.”
Interestingly, alongside three wins over “The Last Stylebender” across kickboxing and MMA, Pereira has defeated Sean Strickland and Jan Blachowicz who’ve beaten Adesanya previously.
Cormier and Sonnen also highlighted that Du Plessis’ strong wrestling and Pereira’s reduced power at middleweight could also work against the latter. For all these reasons, he should avoid moving down a weight class and continue racking up title defenses at light heavyweight where he’s been knocking out most opponents with ease.
- ALSO READ: Video: Israel Adesanya Confronts Aggressive Man, Urges Him to ‘Walk Away’ in Tense Altercation
