Now that light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is no longer competing in the middleweight division, former titleholder Robert Whittaker has become a fan of the Brazilian.
Pereira is an experienced combat sports athlete with over 40 professional kickboxing fights. He arrived in the UFC in November 2021, largely known to mixed marital arts fans as the guy that beat Israel Adesanya twice in kickboxing. In his fourth UFC match, he won three times over “The Last Stylebender”. He also captured the middleweight title.
Pereira, who lost to Adesanya again in the rematch fought in a higher weight division and won the 205 pound championship his second time around. He successfully defended the belt at UFC 300 against former champion Jamahal Hill. Pereira knocked Hill out in the first round.
“My relationship with Alex has always been strange because I don’t like other middleweights just because they could be my opponents. I don’t like to get to be known that way. I don’t like blurring the lines between my side and theirs. Whittaker stated that “it’s business and not personal, but I still like to draw a sand line.”
