Alex Pereira has a Plan B, and he said it out loud. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, the Brazilian said that if Sergei Pavlovich beats him at UFC 335 in December, he’s finished at heavyweight and moving back down to 205 pounds.
His logic is simple math. A loss to Pavlovich would leave Pereira 0-2 at heavyweight, and he told Helwani that record would tell him he’s fighting in the wrong weight class.
“Pavlovich is a dangerous guy. I’ve always said this,” Pereira said. “I want to win, but I can lose too. If I lose, I’m not going to stay at heavyweight.”
Then he addressed the size gap, which is about as candid as a fighter gets eight weeks out from a heavyweight fight. “Everyone knows I’m lighter than all those heavyweights. So I’m not going to keep trying to match their strength when I could do something else and be better off.”
The clip got passed around after Championship Rounds posted it on X on Oct. 21.
What’s on the line in December
The Pavlovich fight is a heavyweight No. 1 contender bout. If Pereira wins, he most likely gets the winner of the UFC 334 title fight between champion Ciryl Gane and challenger Josh Hokit, with that title shot coming in 2027.
The whole reason Pereira climbed to heavyweight was history. He has already held UFC gold at 185 and 205, which puts him in the two-division club with several others. Nobody has won a UFC belt in three weight classes, and Pereira vacated his light heavyweight title to take a run at being the first.
The first attempt didn’t work. Pereira fought Gane for the interim heavyweight title at UFC Freedom 250 and came up short. Gane is now the champion defending against Hokit, and Pereira still believes the three-division record is in reach, which is why he’s giving heavyweight one more go instead of retreating right away.
So the path is clean. Beat Pavlovich, wait out Gane vs. Hokit, then fight for the undisputed belt. Lose to Pavlovich, and he’s back at 205, the division where he was champion until he gave the belt up voluntarily.
Give the man credit for answering the question straight. Most fighters asked about Plan B swear there isn’t one, because admitting an exit route sounds like doubt. Pereira looked at the weight difference, said it plainly, and told everyone exactly where he’d be if it goes wrong. He also already lost an interim title fight, which is the least meaningful belt in the sport anyway, so a real undisputed shot is the only thing worth staying for. The three-division chase now rides on one December night against a guy Pereira himself called dangerous before anyone asked.
