Alex Pereira might already have his next UFC fight lined up, but Dana White has somehow found a way to make the announcement feel like a social media challenge. And yeah, fans are absolutely roasting him for it.

‘Poatan’ has been teasing his return ever since his TKO loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 in June, where he came up short in his bid for the interim heavyweight title. Now, with the Brazilian hinting that a big fight is on the horizon, Dana White appears ready to reveal the matchup, but only if fans do one little thing first. Get the comments rolling.

During a conversation with content creator Nina Drama, she asked the UFC CEO how many comments it would take for him to reveal Alex Pereira’s next opponent during her Kick stream.

“Let’s get 25,000,” he replied, making sure fans work too hard for the massive news.

“25,000 comments? And you’ll announce it on my Kick stream? This Saturday? In Salt Lake?” Nina Drama asked again.

“Yeah,” White confirmed.

So, apparently, the UFC’s next big Alex Pereira announcement could come down to whether fans can spam the comment section hard enough. And judging by the response, Dana White might not have to wait very long.

The video has already racked up around 19K comments, putting it just 6K away from the magic number. Even crazier, it reportedly took only about two hours to get there. At this rate, hitting 25K looks less like a challenge and more like a formality.

The whole bizarre announcement stunt comes after ‘Poatan’ himself teased that something big is on the way. The former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion recently jumped on Instagram and hinted that his next move could be a serious challenge.

“It’s coming,” the Brazilian wrote on his Instagram story. “Good news, that’s right, a big challenge. Like I told you, if I hadn’t taken risks in all my fights, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

Well, who could Alex Pereira’s next “big challenge” be? One name that surely stands out among the list of possible opponents is none other than Sergei Pavlovich.

If that matchup does happen, the UFC would be putting two of the heavyweight’s biggest knockout artists in the same cage—which is basically asking for fireworks.

Alex Pereira and Sergei Pavlovich have both made a name for themselves by putting opponents away with terrifying power, so their matchup would be a pure striker-vs.-striker showdown. ‘Poatan’ would be looking to bounce back from his loss to Gane, while the Russian would get a major opportunity to make some noise himself.

In other words, there probably wouldn’t be much room for either guy to play it safe.

Alex Pereira has never been shy about his ambitions either. ‘Poatan’ wants to become the first UFC fighter to win titles in three different divisions, and that dream was a big reason behind his move up to heavyweight.

A win over Pavlovich could put him right back into the title mix, especially with Ciryl Gane set to defend the heavyweight championship against Josh Hokit at UFC 334. If Pereira gets the job done in his next fight, a rematch with ‘Bon Gamin’ could even be waiting for him in 2027.

But instead of just announcing the matchup like a normal UFC fight announcement, the promotion has decided to make fans work for it by getting a Kick stream to 25,000 comments first. And, unsurprisingly, fans are not exactly loving the idea.

Fans go off on Dana White and the UFC’s massive drop in announcement quality

The whole 25,000-comment gimmick has also struck a nerve with UFC fans. Instead of just arguing over who Alex Pereira should fight next, plenty of viewers have turned their attention to the UFC itself.

For many fans, the stunt is less about ‘Poatan’ and more about what they see as another example of the promotion’s increasingly questionable approach to marketing its biggest fights.

One fan wrote, “This s— is pathetic for a 7.7 billion dollar company,” while another suggested, “Maybe a cool promo video would be cool?”

Others questioned why Alex Pereira, once a UFC 300 headliner and one of the promotion’s biggest stars, was being used to promote a stream with Nina Drama. “Pereira fell off. What do you mean your fight gets announced through some Nina Drama’s stream 😂,” one fan wrote.

Another described it as “‘Poatan’ has regressed from a UFC 300 headliner to a Nina Drama stream feature,” followed by another blunt reaction: “What a fall from grace.”

And the backlash goes beyond Pereira’s announcement. UFC fans have been increasingly vocal about the promotion’s recent marketing choices, with AI-generated promotional content becoming a particular sticking point. The criticism grew louder after the UFC used generative AI material around its Seattle event.

Dana White didn’t exactly try to calm things down. Responding to the complaints, the UFC CEO said, “AI is coming and if we’re using AI who gives a s—?” He also had a blunt message for fans unhappy with the direction of the promotion: “shut the f— up and watch the fights.”

That wider context helps explain why the Pereira announcement has struck such a nerve. For some fans, the problem isn’t Nina Drama or even the 25,000-comment challenge itself. It’s the bigger picture. They feel the UFC’s biggest fights are being promoted with less creativity and effort than they used to get.

The reaction has even produced comments such as, “The @ufc has turned into a legit clown show,” while another fan said, “The current state of the UFC is almost unwatchable. It’s either ai slop promo or lazy fight announcements.”

The Sergei Pavlovich speculation then became another major part of the discussion, with fans arguing that the UFC’s mystery announcement was hardly a mystery at all. One fan wrote, “It’s obviously Pavlovich, stop wasting people’s time and just announce it already.”

Another added, “We know it’s Pavlovich lmao, no need to watch her stream,” while a third said, “You’re not fooling anyone Dana, we all know it’s Pav.”

One fan went even further, asking, “Who’s the bald man fooling? Pavlovich.” Another pointed to the current heavyweight schedule as evidence, writing, “It’s not Ciryl Gane (facing Josh Hokit), Tom Aspinall (facing rehabilitation), Alexander Volkov or Shamil Kuniev (facing each other).”

For now, the UFC still hasn’t officially revealed Alex Pereira’s next opponent. So there’s only one thing left to do: get that comment count to 25,000 and wait for Dana White to finally spill the beans on the next chapter of the Brazilian’s career.