Despite the five-fight win streak and menacing power of his opponent on Saturday, Alex Pereira’s return at UFC 307 has been labeled as the closest thing the two-division champion has had to a showcase fight since first catapulting into middleweight contention with his 2022 knockout of Sean Strickland.
Pereira, 37, has certainly earned that type of billing entering his headlining title defense this weekend against the hard-hitting Khaili Rountree Jr (13-5, 1 NC), the No. 8-ranked light heavyweight, when the two clash inside of the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
In fact, it wouldn’t be out of line to consider Pereira (11-2), the former two-division kickboxing world champion and Glory Hall-of-Famer, as the most valuable entity UFC has at the moment considering how often of late he has bailed the promotion out by accepting a last-minute placement in a pay-per-view main event.
The Brazilian slugger, whose “Poatan” nickname literally translates to “hands of stone,” replaced Jon Jones-Stipe Miocic in last November’s UFC 295 card in New York when he finished Jiri Prochazka, despite suffering a broken toe, to claim the vacant 205-pound title. Five months later, he accepted a late call to headline UFC 300 where, despite breaking a second toe, he knocked out former champion Jamahal Hill in Round 1.
Not even two months later, Pereira accepted a late offer one more time when Conor McGregor pulled out of a International Fight Week return at UFC 303 — with, ironically, a broken toe — and Pereira finished Prochazka again in Round 2, only this time via head kick.
MMA journalist Mike Bohn recently uncovered an incredible statistic that perfectly captures just how rare Pereira’s recent run of dominant success has been (while showing his immense value as a PPV headliner to the company). Should Pereira defeat Rountree on Saturday, he will break Ronda Rousey’s UFC record (189 days) for recording three title defenses in the shortest time frame of just 175 days.
Not only does this information take UFC off the hook just a bit for its head-scratching decision to force the No.2-ranked Magomed Ankalaev into a fight against Aleksandr Rakic (who is fresh off of two straight TKO defeats) rather than the Pereira fight he deserves, it also illustrates just how much company favor and “money in the bank” Pereira likely has with UFC brass due.
So, even though action is expected when Pereira and Rountree face off (for however long the fight lasts), the real intrigue surrounding UFC 307 might just be whom “Poatan” calls out after the fight.
If recent headlines are any indication, Pereira seems deadset upon cutting back down to 185 pounds once more to challenge current champion Dricus du Plessis (even if UFC CEO Dana White didn’t appear to sign off on the idea when asked about it this week). White appeared even less enthused just four months ago when Pereira began publicly making a case for why he should move up to UFC’s heavyweight division next and seek the holy grail of becoming the promotion’s first three-division champion.
Given how unique and historically successful Pereira’s three-year run in the Octagon has already been (and how quickly he went from losing the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya via knockout in their rematch only to become light heavyweight champion seven months later), it’s time both Pereira and White come together on the latter idea. Not only has Pereira earned the opportunity to call his own shot given how small the window he has left due to his age and combined combat mileage, the UFC could be missing out on a massive opportunity for a generational superfight.
The UFC’s reputation for always coming through with the big fight that fans most covet has been a hallmark of its transformation over the past two decades from an unregulated sport not fit for American PPV distribution to becoming a financial powerhouse and key cog in parent company Endeavor’s ongoing takeover of combat sports at large through its creation of TKO Group, which went on to purchase WWE and is threatening (along with White) to make a move into boxing in 2025.
If you look back at UFC history since White and the Fertitta brothers first purchased the brand in 2001 for $2 million, the amount of superfights that didn’t happen despite huge public demand can be counted on less than one hand: Randy Couture-Fedor Emelienenko and Anderson Silva-Georges St-Pierre. But in the last few years alone, that list doubled when UFC failed to produce Francis Ngannou-Jones, along with Jones’ current disinterest in delaying retirement enough to fight interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall.
Unless UFC comes through with a record-breaking purse offer to Jones following his return in November against Miocic in November, the Aspinall fight becomes probably nothing more than a pipedream. But even though none of this has been fair to Aspinall, there might be one more dangling carrot that could keep Jones around should he defend his heavyweight title for the first time next month after sitting out more than a year due to injury.
How about Pereira, should he dispose of Rountree in the ways oddsmakers believe he will, making a direct callout to Jones about hanging around for one more fight that could become one of the biggest commercial events of the UFC’s modern era?
Given Pereira’s short time as an MMA fighter following a decade as one of the world’s best kickboxers, the idea of him having a shot at becoming the sport’s greatest fighter in history would be difficult. But what if he defeated MMA’s reigning G.O.A.T. to do so while becoming the only person to conquer three divisions with a major promotion?
Pereira is also naturally smaller than Jones and lacks the grappling prowess of the former 205-pound king, which could appease Jones should the more well-rounded threat of Aspinall be the true reason why Jones continues to hint that UFC 309 would be his last dance.
Look, let’s say it a second time: none of this would be fair to Aspinall. But what is fair rarely has everything to do with why championship and/or PPV headlining fights get made. Remember, if title shots were only exclusively earned, Anakalev would be Pereira’s opponent this weekend and not Rountree.
Pereira has absolutely maximized his opportunity to further deepen his place in UFC history. But there’s a major difference between returning to a division he already conquered to fight the next guy in line (in this case, DDP) and moving up to fight the most difficult challenge the sport has ever known, with a shot at MMA immortality at stake.
If White and UFC take a look back at the greatest fighters who have ever step foot inside the Octagon over the past 31 years of the promotion’s history, very few have made as impressive of a mark in as little time as Pereira, who has overcome a language gap and a perceived weakness on the ground to become an equal critical and commercial success. And, oh by the way, he’s always there, just one phone call away, anytime UFC brass has needed him to save the day and make all things right.
Pereira just might actually be that one of one. And he just so happens to have no fear about moving up (or down) in weight once more to find out how great he can truly be.
As the kids say these days, let “Poatan” cook. The small window to create one of the most unique and important matchups the sport has ever seen is still potentially here but it’s closing fast.
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