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Alex Pereira released 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, leading to a violent second-round knockout.
Nearly a day after losing the 185-pound title, ‘Poatan’ reacted to the loss on Twitter by saying:
“Im just here to let u know that I’m fine ! I want to thank my family, my team and all the people who are supporting me during my journey. Now I just have to rest and continue with the plans that are already on motion. Thanks god."
Adesanya had his back against the wall heading into UFC 287. Pereira held three wins over him, with 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 followed by another right hand and vicious 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 cut a massive amount of weight to make the 185-pound limit. There have been questions about how many more times he would fight at middleweight, regardless of the outcome in the Israel Adesanya rematch.
During the UFC 287 post-fight press conference, Dana White had this to say about a potential trilogy bout between Pereira and Adesanya:
“Honestly, I think Pereira moves to 205 after this fight. He’s a monster. I know that he still had like two pounds to cut leading up to an hour before the weigh-ins. I’m not saying he’s moving to 205, but I would assume he is. You guys can ask him himself, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”
After making a name for himself as the Glory kickboxing world champion, Pereira committed to MMA and made his UFC debut in November 2021. He quickly established himself as a legitimate threat to Adesanya’s throne with wins 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.
