Alex Pereira is sticking around at heavyweight, but his next test is about as nasty as it gets. Why? Because the former two-division UFC champ is set to throw down with knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on December 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The five-round co-main event was officially announced during UFC 332 on Saturday, setting ‘Poatan’ up for another shot at proving he belongs in the heavyweight title picture. After conquering both middleweight and light heavyweight, the Brazilian moved up with his eyes on something nobody in UFC history has ever done: win a third division title.

That dream got smacked with a reality check against current heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane at the UFC Freedom 250 card in June. Alex Pereira was stopped by second-round TKO and wasn’t exactly thrilled about it, arguing that illegal strikes played a role in the finish.

Things got serious enough for the 39-year-old to even threaten retirement over his concerns about fighter safety. Retirement clearly isn’t happening yet. Instead, the Brazilian is going right back into the fire against one of the division’s scariest knockout artists.

Head honcho Dana White announced the bout during Nina Drama’s recent livestream as he promised days earlier.

Sergei Pavlovich is also looking to claw his way back toward another heavyweight title shot after a rough stretch of his own. The Russian contender lost to Tom Aspinall in their 2023 interim heavyweight title fight before dropping another decision to Alexander Volkov.

Since then, though, he’s flipped the script with three straight wins. And his latest one was an absolute nightmare for Tallison Teixeira.

If you don’t know Teixeira, the guy is a legit giant at 6-foot-7 and, interestingly enough, trains alongside Alex Pereira.

However, that didn’t save him from the 34-year-old, though. Sergei Pavlovich cracked him early with a right hand, then followed up with a nasty overhand that sent the towering Brazilian crashing to the canvas.

And the Russian wasn’t about to let him off the hook. He immediately swarmed Teixeira with ground strikes, unloading until the Brazilian went limp and the referee had no choice but to jump in. The whole thing was over in just 39 seconds, giving the 34-year-old his first knockout win since he flattened Curtis Blaydes in April 2023.

That win also gave Sergei Pavlovich the perfect chance to call his shot.

After extending his winning streak to three, the Russian contender went straight for UFC CEO Dana White and made it crystal clear what he wanted.

“This is the time now,” he said through a translator after the fight at UFC Macau. “I wanna talk to Dana. Dana, give me the title shot, or at least give me a contender fight.”

Well, Dana heard him. The Russian has now landed the contender fight he was asking for, and judging by the early fan reaction, plenty of people already expect him to come out of it one step closer to the heavyweight gold.

Fans already see Sergei Pavlovich knocking out Alex Pereira

Alex Pereira’s decision to remain at heavyweight has immediately raised concerns among fans, particularly because Sergei Pavlovich’s greatest weapon is the same kind of devastating power that has already caused problems for the former champion.

The reaction was overwhelmingly tilted toward the Russian heavyweight, with one fan simply writing, “Pavlovich sleeps him.” Another declared, “Pavlovich by ko is the only correct answer here, and I say that as someone who loves Poatan.”

The five-round format did little to change that confidence. “5 rounds don’t mean anything when Sergei throws that first overhand,” one fan wrote, while another predicted, “I see no way for Pereira. Sergei knocks him out.”

Others focused specifically on the matchup, with one admitting, “I do not like this matchup for Pereira,” while another bluntly predicted, “Pavlovich is sleeping him bad.” Another fan went even further with “Pavlovich KO inside 2 rounds.”

Pereira’s age and recent loss also became a major part of the reaction. “ALEX GETTING SLEPT AGAIN 😭😭,” one fan wrote, while another called it a bad matchup for the Brazilian: “Horrid matchup for Alex. Retirement fight.”

The harshest predictions suggested Pereira could be heading toward another devastating finish. “This time Pootan is going to sleep FOR GOOD,” one fan claimed, while another asked, “Alex getting finished back-to-back at 39, why they doin this to him?”

Now, Alex Pereira has nowhere to hide from the questions surrounding his heavyweight run. He’ll have five rounds to answer them when he steps into the Octagon against Sergei Pavlovich, a man who has already made it clear he believes his next shot at UFC gold is coming sooner rather than later.

One of them leaves UFC 335 with serious momentum. The other could be staring at a much longer road back to the top.