‘My Next Fight Will Be At 205’

With no rematch against Israel Adesanya on the horizon, the former middleweight champion has decided it’s time to fight at light heavyweight. But he’s leaving the door open for more bouts at 185.

Alex Pereira is headed up to the 205 pound division.

That’s not according to Dana White or Israel Adesanya. That’s according to Pereira himself, who made the announcement on his YouTube channel.

“My next fight will be in 205 [division],” he said. “Yeah, you heard right. I think I did my work in 185 and now I’m feeling good to go up to 205. Like I told you, when I’m feeling good, I will go up — this will be something natural … and now I think it is. My next opponent, I can’t tell you yet, but I will keep you updated here on my [YouTube] channel.”

Pereira is coming off a tough loss to Israel Adesanya in a fight he seemed to be winning … right up until “The Last Stylebender” fired back against the cage, landing two massive overhand rights that dropped “Poatan” to the canvas (watch the finish here). That gave Adesanya his first victory over Pereira in four contests. And while they’re now 1-1 in the UFC, Izzy sounds uninterested in granting Pereira a third mixed martial arts fight.

“Poatan” has accepted this … for now.

“I want to make one thing clear. This division 185, I always made weight,” Pereira said. “A lot of people had doubts, but I always fulfilled my obligation. But now it’s the moment for me to go to the next division. This will be better for me.

“All of you saw the provocation from Adesanya after the fight. He acts as if he has won against me three times. But it’s not like this. It was his dream to win one time against me, and now he did. But let’s see what will be his behavior. I’m going up to light heavyweight because it’s a good option for me. But I’m sure if I would stay in this division, I can fight against him directly. Let’s see how he behaves.”

“I’m not going up because I can’t make the weight any more,” he said. “I will always be able to make 185. Let’s see the behavior of him. He’s behaving like this because Dana White spoke after my fight about my weight. And it seems like he’s thinking ‘Oh, this guy will never make weight again — I can provoke him, because he won’t do anything.’ I’m sure if I insist to fight him immediately, the UFC and my manager would make it happen.

“So we will see how Adesanya will behave now and hereafter. I make this very clear to all of you.”

While a final Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira fight is something fans want to see eventually, the possibilities for Pereira at 205 are pretty exciting too. The division is full of strikers and brawlers, and it will be very interesting to see if a kickboxer of Pereira’s caliber can climb the ranks and contend for the belt in a second weight class.

And hey, how legendary would it be for Alex to win the light heayvweight title and then make the final Adesanya bout a champion vs. champion affair?