"I just found out” - Dana White reveals Alex Pereira suffered an injury several weeks before his UFC 300 clash with Jamahal Hill
Alex Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight title against Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC 300 on April 13.
The pair went to war in a much-anticipated clash, with Hill returning to the octagon for the first time since tearing his Achilles tendon in July 2023. Given his injury, questions arose regarding how well 'Sweet Dreams' would deal with the Brazilian's deadly calf kicks.
The kicks did not appear to affect Hill too badly for as long as the fight lasted.
Following a recent revelation from UFC CEO Dana White, it seems that 'Poatan' may have been the one struggling with kicks throughout the bout.
White appeared in front of the media following UFC 300, where he shared that Pereira had suffered a broken toe several weeks before fight night. He said this:
"You guys don't know this yet but I'll tell you. I just found out when I went up in the octagon because I saw [Pereira] messing around with his foot. He broke his toe two weeks ago. He fought tonight with a broken toe, I thought he broke his toe in the fight. His team was like, 'No he broke his toe two weeks ago.' He was like, 'I ain't losing this opportunity for a f***ing pinky toe.'"
Watch Dana White discuss Alex Pereira's injury below from 5:10:
Alex Pereira calls for a heavyweight clash next, Tom Aspinall appears to oblige
Alex Pereira retained his light heavyweight crown with a stunning knockout over Jamahal Hill in Round 1 of their UFC 300 headliner.
In the build-up to the fight, 'Poatan' had shared his interest in featuring on UFC 301, which takes place in Brazil on May 4, should he walk away from his clash with Hill unscathed.
Aside from the now-disclosed broken toe, Pereira did not appear to accrue any damage against 'Sweet Dreams'. Following his victory, he was interviewed by Joe Rogan, where he called for a heavyweight clash at next month's pay-per-view, saying this:
"I talked a lot about fighting in Brazil if I won this fight. I won this fight, nothing happened, I know there needs to be a lot of promotion behind the fight but I want to have a fight at heavyweight."
Watch Alex Pereira's interview below from 3:20:
Interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall was in attendance at UFC 300. Following the main event's conclusion, he took to Instagram and posted this: