Michael Bisping expects Alex Pereira to be more durable at light heavyweight.
Former UFC middleweight champion Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) announced that he will move up to 205 pounds after losing his middleweight title to Israel Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) by knockout at UFC 287.
With their series tied 1-1 in MMA, Bisping thinks a trilogy between Pereira and Adesanya should have been next. But he sees “Poatan,” who also defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing, benefitting from having to cut a lot less weight at 205 pounds.
“You’ve got to think that Alex Pereira at 205 will be even better than what he was at 185,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Those hard weight cuts, and look at the size of Pereira. That was a tough weight cut every time he did it.
“They drain you, they sap you, they affect your stamina, they affect your recovery, they affect the training camp because you can’t eat carbohydrates, and you can’t recover from one session to the next. You get tired as the fights go on and more importantly, they affect your ability to take a punch.”
Pereira was brutally knocked out by Adesanya in their rematch. In the first fight at UFC 281, Pereira was rocked at the end of Round 1 before rallying to get the finish in Round 5.
Without the draining weight cut, Bisping expects Pereira to have a better chin at light heavyweight.
“All of that would be eradicated at 205,” Bisping said. “He will be a bigger, better, stronger, more stamina, fitter, higher output, and could take a better shot. And he better be able to take a better shot at 205 because they do hit harder.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
