Sergei Pavlovich posted a training clip to X on Oct. 15, and a big chunk of the internet has decided Alex Pereira’s heavyweight run ends face down at UFC 335.
The video is Pavlovich doing what Pavlovich does, which is hitting things like they owe him money. His caption was short: “There will be many surprises #ufc335”. MMA Mania rounded up the reaction, and the replies were not kind to the Brazilian.
“I hate to say this, but Alex is cooked,” one fan wrote. Another went with “Alex is getting slept.” A third pushed back on the caption itself: “There ain’t gonna be surprises you’re gonna knockout Alex in the first round.” And my personal favorite, a simple plea to the big Russian: “Don’t kill him please.”
The fight lands in New York City in November.
Why the worry
Pereira, the former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion, already got his first real look at heavyweight earlier this year, and it went badly. He lost to Ciryl Gane on the UFC White House card, a performance MMA Mania described as failing miserably, adding that he looked a little slow (and small) against the Frenchman.
Pereira didn’t take that as a sign to head back down. He’s insisting on staying at heavyweight and chasing a third UFC title, which would be a record. A win over Pavlovich, per MMA Mania, could put him right back into a title fight.
That’s the carrot. The stick is that Pavlovich is about as unforgiving a heavyweight as the division offers, and the outlet’s own read is that one mistake could leave Pereira with another knockout loss at heavyweight, which would not look great on a résumé that was already headed for Hall of Fame conversations. Not every fan wants him to keep going, either. One reply in the roundup said Pereira should go back down to light heavyweight or retire.
The take
Fan replies under a workout video are about the least scientific scouting report in combat sports. Every heavyweight looks like a demolition crew when the camera is pointed at a pad holder who isn’t hitting back. But the concern has a real fight underneath it. Pereira went up, ran into Gane, and looked like a guy wearing a borrowed suit. Now he’s stepping in with a man whose whole job description is ending nights early.
I love that Pereira refuses to take the easy road. Chasing a third belt at heavyweight after a loss like the Gane fight is exactly the stubborn, slightly unhinged move that made people fall for him in the first place. I just don’t love his odds of getting there through Pavlovich in November. The Russian promised surprises. The biggest surprise would be Pereira hearing the final horn.
