The past few months have been rough on Alex Pereira. The mighty ‘Poatan’ reigned as the middleweight kingpin until Israel Adesanya took the belt away from him. Pereira and Adesanya had a years-long rivalry, and it came to an end with the Brazilian fighter losing his belt to ‘Stylebender’. After losing three times against Pereira, Adesanya made sure that he changed his career for the better the fourth time. Soon after losing the bout, both fighters made it clear that they were not going to lock horns for the fifth time. Instead, Pereira chose to move up to the light heavyweight division.

At the moment, he is training hard to fight against the former light heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz. The bout between ‘Poatan’ and Blachowicz is scheduled to take place at UFC 291 on July 29, 2023. The event will be held at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Now, the retired UFC legend has come forward with a massive claim regarding Alex Pereira’s move up to light heavyweight. He believes that Pereira would go above the imagination of the fight fans.

Chael Sonnen gives a wild prediction about Alex Pereira

Sonnen was talking in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel. Toward the end of the video, Sonnen talked about how fighters struggle to fight at their natural weight. While explaining the issue, ‘The American Gangster’ mentioned that Pereira never belonged to the middleweight division.

He said, “I believe Alex Pereira was a world champion at the wrong weight class. I don’t have enough evidence yet to prove that. I don’t have enough evidence yet to convince you guys but I believe it and I believe what you saw from Alex Pereira at 185 is nothing compared to what you’re gonna see from Pereira at 205.” Sonnen believes that Pereira would fit well in the light heavyweight division and would perform in an extraordinary fashion. At the moment, only the outcome of the bout between Pereira and Blachowicz can decide his fate in the light heavyweight division.

Israel Adesanya praises the ‘Poatan’

When Israel Adesanya sat with MMA Hour’s Ariel Helwani, he could not resist praising his arch-rival. While talking about Pereira, Adesanya mentioned that ‘Poatan’ is a fighter with great spirit. He further went on to mention that he is a “cool guy“. Pereira has defeated Adesanya on three separate occasions in prior matchups.

READ MORE: Days After Announcing His Light Heavyweight Move, Alex Pereira Hints at a Third Possible Bout Against Arch Nemesis Israel Adesanya

Hence, a great deal of animosity formed between them. However, even Adesanya admitted that Pereira is a great fighter with the right mindset. At the moment, the fans need to wait to find out if Pereira comes out with flying colors in his new division.

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