LAS VEGAS – Alex Pereira wants to go up. He wants to go down. He’s also comfortable staying put.
The flexibility the current UFC light heavyweight champion Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) has expressed when it comes to weight classes has impressed promotion CEO Dana White. That includes the recent callout of Dricus Du Plessis by “Poatan.”
“My take on him is, he’s f*cking nasty,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a Dana White’s Contender Series 70 post-fight news conference Tuesday. “That’s my take on him. He wants to move up. He wants to move down. He wants to go everywhere. That’s why people love him. Those are the type of fighters people love. Pereira wants to fight everybody. I love it.
“… The thing that’s great about it is, this is why I said a minute ago everybody loves him and he’s great. But it also gives us a ton of options that as we’re in matchmaking, ‘Should we do this, should we do that? Shouldn’t we do this, shouldn’t we do that?’ It’s a good problem to have with a guy like him. How about he’s on vacation and accepts the last-minute fight? Everything about Alex Pereira is what makes fans absolutely love the guy.”
Pereira, 37, is currently booked to defend the promotion’s light heavyweight title Oct. 7 at UFC 307 vs. Khalil Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC). He previously held the UFC middleweight title.
Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) doesn’t have a title fight booked, though Sean Strickland has been identified as the likely next challenger. He most recently competed Aug. 17 when he defeated Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.
White was noncommittal to a potential matchup between Pereira and Du Plessis should they both win.
