Alex Pereira issued his first public statement since losing at UFC 287.
On April 8, Pereira hoped to secure his first middleweight title defense against Israel Adesanya. Unfortunately, for the former Glory kickboxer, Adesanya had other plans, which led to a violent second-round knockout.
Almost a day after losing the 185-pound title, ‘Poatan’ reacted to the loss on Twitter saying:
“I’m just here to tell you that I’m fine! I want to thank my family, my team and all the people who are supporting me along my way. Now I just have to rest and continue with the plans that are already underway. Thank God.”
Adesanya had his back against the wall heading into UFC 287. Pereira had three wins over him, two in kickboxing and one in MMA. After being dethroned by ‘Poatan’ in November 2022, ‘The Last Stylebender’ sought revenge, which he acquired with a beautiful counter right hand followed by another right hand and a brutal ground and pound.
The question is, what’s next for the former 185-pound king?
Take a look at Alex Pereira’s first public statement since UFC 287 below:
Dana White wouldn’t be surprised if Alex Pereira moves up to light heavyweight after losing at UFC 287
It’s been no secret that Alex Pereira has shed a huge amount of weight to get to the 185-pound limit. There have been questions about how many more times he would fight at middleweight, regardless of the result in the Israel Adesanya rematch.
During the UFC 287 post-fight press conference, Dana White had this to say about a potential trilogy fight between Pereira and Adesanya:
“Honestly, I think Pereira goes to 205 after this fight. He is a monster. I know he still had like two pounds to lose until an hour before the weigh-in. I’m not saying he’s going to move into 205, but I guess so. You can ask him himself, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
After making a name for himself as Glory’s world kickboxing champion, Pereira committed to MMA and made his UFC debut in November 2021. He quickly established himself as a legitimate threat to the Adesanya throne with victories against Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva and Sean Strickland.
‘Poatan’ returns to the drawing board after making history against ‘The Last Stylebender’ and being dethroned five months later.