UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira hasn’t been able to miss as of late and this wave of momentum doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
From headlining UFC 300 to stepping in as the replacement main event for UFC 303, “Poatan” has become a leading figure in MMA but there’s potentially one more thing he can do to take his star level up another notch.
Pereira isn’t short on challengers in the light heavyweight division but the prospect of seeing him move up to heavyweight to put his power to the test against the biggest and baddest men on the roster, would be must-see.
It certainly seems to be on the table in the near future, which is crazy when you consider that he entered the promotion as a middleweight contender.
First, he will be defending his title against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 but the champion was never intending to be in MMA for a long time.
Pereira has effortlessly made the jump to 205 pounds and his coach, who knows a thing or two about winning titles, believes he can do the same at heavyweight when the time is right.
Glover Teixeira Says Alex Pereira Fighting At Heavyweight Would Be ‘No Problem’
Glover Teixeira never intended to be a coach but said that being in Pereira’s corner was something that naturally happened over time.
The former light heavyweight champion has become very close with the former GLORY kickboxer and during that time, he’s been so impressed with how great of a student Pereira is.
Having spent so much time alongside him, Teixeira knew that moving up the weights was only a matter of time.
In a recent interview with RG.org, he spoke about how he warned Pereira that middleweight would only last him so long and how the prospect of seeing his fighter at heavyweight is something he looks forward to, rather than worries about.
“We talked about it since the beginning. I said to him, ‘You’re going to get bigger because of the wrestling training, and eventually you’re going to have to move up,’
“I think I feel comfortable now with 205 [pounds], happy with the weight cuts,” Teixeira said. “But also I’ll be happy if he moves up. I think he has the potential to beat anyone at heavyweight. The guy is a beast, man. His strength is like a heavyweight, he hits like a heavyweight. So it’ll be no problem.”
