Alex Pereira isn’t chasing boxing money. In comments Ariel Helwani posted on X on Wednesday, the Brazilian said he’s content with his UFC contract, even as Zuffa Boxing hands out the kind of paydays that get fighters doing math on hotel napkins.
“I’m happy. I have no problem with my contract. I could go box and make another $40 million, but for what?” Pereira said. “I’m happy with the plan and work we’ve done.”
The plan right now has a name, and it’s Sergei Pavlovich. MiddleEasy reported that Pereira made the contract comments while preparing for the Russian heavyweight. Pavlovich is his next assignment after a heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane.
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Pereira has also been thinking about the scale. He told Helwani he expects to come in lighter for Pavlovich than he did against Gane, somewhere around 110 kilograms, which works out to roughly 242 pounds.
“I think I’ll be around 110 kg [242 lbs]. I just feel that I gotta be a little lighter,” he said, in a clip Championship Rounds shared from the Helwani interview.
That’s an interesting call for a guy moving up in weight. Most fighters jumping to heavyweight eat everything in sight. Pereira apparently looked at the Gane fight and decided the extra mass wasn’t worth hauling around.
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Magomed Ankalaev is not letting go of the past, either. Earlier this week, in an interview with Bostanov MMA that Championship Rounds picked up, Ankalaev described Pereira’s win over him as a lucky punch. He also suggested Pereira’s side knew he was hurt going in.
“I think they knew I had some kind of injury. I don’t think any fighter had ever rushed at me like that before,” Ankalaev said. “If he hadn’t known I was injured, I don’t think it would have ended so quickly.”
He added that “His business with me isn’t settled at all.” Pereira, for his part, has spent the week posting training footage. One clip got the caption “taking the scientific approach” from the account that reshared it. Pereira also posted a video of his new Lamborghini Aventador SVJ that was interrupted by a neighbor yelling an insult at him. His caption was “When you have a jealous neighbor!”
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My take: I’ll take a fighter who answers a money question with “but for what?” over 10 guys hinting at crossover fights with emoji. Pereira gave a straight answer, named a number and moved on. He also just bought an Aventador SVJ, so nobody needs to start a fundraiser. The only figure he seems interested in right now is 110 kilos, and Pavlovich is the guy who has to deal with it.
