UFC veteran expresses concerns over Alex Pereira's ambitions for middleweight title: "It's a bit of a cop-out"
Alex Pereira last entered the octagon at UFC 303 when he defeated Jiri Prochazka via second-round TKO to defend his light heavyweight title for the second time. 'Poatan' is set to look for his third title defense in 2024 when he faces Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 in October.
Michael Bisping recently weighed in on his comments that he is interested in returning to middleweight after the bout. Speaking on his self-titled YouTube channel, the UFC Hall of Famer stated:
"If you ever ask [fighters] what they want down the line, they always say, and it's kind of a boring answer, 'oh, I can't look past this guy, Saturday night, this is very, very serious and I'm not looking past this one.' And they're correct to say that, but it's also a bit of a cop-out. It is a little bit. Just have some ba**s and say, 'listen, yeah, I want this guy, that guy, that guy, line them all up, I'll knock them down'."
'Poatan' continued:
"I like that from Pereira, but he does have some fights because after Khalil - if he's victorious - and that is a big if... after that, he's got to fight Magomed Ankalaev... We want to see great champions - and Alex Pereira is a great champion, make no mistake - we want to see them take on all comers in their division, but also prove that they can beat all of these different types of styles."
Check out Michael Bisping's comments on Alex Pereira below (starting at the 2:11 mark):
Bisping added that Pereira has had an easy path throughout his UFC career as he has almost exclusively faced strikers. It is unclear if the promotion would have him face Magomed Ankalaev - provided he defeats Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 - before giving him a middleweight title opportunity.
Magomed Ankalaev calls out Alex Pereira over middleweight plans
Magomed Ankalaev opted to take the high road despite being skipped over for a light heavyweight title opportunity. The No. 2-ranked light heavyweight noted that he plans to take care of business at UFC 308 so he cannot be denied the opportunity. He had a far different reaction to Alex Pereira revealing his plans to return to middleweight, tweeting:
"You are so weak @AlexPereiraUFC you only pick on the guys who are in lower division than you and you think you can beat them people are not stupid there is a reason why you are fighting Khalil and not me"
Check out Magomed Ankalaev's tweet to Alex Pereira below:
If Ankalaev is able to get emerge victorious at UFC 308, he will be the clear No.1 contender for a light heavyweight title opportunity. It is unclear if Pereira would vacate the belt due to his middleweight plans.