Glover Teixeira thinks Alex Pereira moving up to light heavyweight was the right choice.
Former middleweight champion Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will go up a division and face Jan Blachowicz (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) in the UFC 291 co-main event on July 29 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
Teixeira thinks the weight cut down to 185 pounds was too taxing on the body of Pereira, who’s already big at light heavyweight.
“I like him going to light heavyweight,” Teixeira said during the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 post-match news conference (H/T FanSided MMA). “When he said he was going to light heavyweight, I was like, ‘I love it’ because I don’t want to see him cutting that much weight. You don’t know how much that guy cuts. He’s 230 pounds right now and he’s lean.
“He’s probably like 8 percent body fat. For him to drop to 185 is crazy – crazy, man. I cut weight. I don’t cut that much, but I know how hard it is and as you get older, it gets harder and harder. That eventually can be bad for your health, and I don’t want him to be in that position, so I’m glad.”
Pereira will look to rebound from his knockout loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287. He faces Blachowicz, who Teixeira submitted at UFC 267 to capture the light heavyweight title.
Not only does Teixeira see Pereira winning, he sees him ruling the division.
“I think it’s a great matchup for Alex,” Teixeira said. “I think Alex is going to take over the whole division. He’s going to be a champion again, in light heavyweight.”
If Pereira gets past Blachowicz, he could end up facing current light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill, who battered Teixeira to claim the vacant belt at UFC 283. Teixeira retired after the fight, and admits it would be nice if Pereira could avenge his loss.
“If everything goes to plan and Alex passes Jan, for sure I think Jamahal Hill would be an amazing fight for Alex,” Teixeira said. “And it would be nice to see him (get) revenge – nothing against Jamahal; he’s a great guy.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.