Alex Pereira has a plan B if his return to the Octagon in May doesn’t include Israel Adesanya, as the reigning UFC Middleweight champion names Robert Whittaker as the alternative.
If Adesanya doesn’t want to fight me… it’ll be Whittaker instead: Alex Pereira
“Poatan” clinched the 185 pound belt from his longtime rival back in November at UFC 281 via fifth round TKO. It was the first time Pereira and Adesanya locked horns in cage, after two kickboxing clashes. Across both disciplines, Pereira leads 3-0 head to head.
Since his UFC triumph, there is little info on when the Brazilian will be in action once again. A rematch against “Stylebender” is definitely on the plate, but whether the rematch will be an immediate one, is still cloudy.
However, as Pereira said himself, his return could possibly take place in May. However, in case the rematch with Adesanya doesn’t happen, Pereira has already proposed an alternative- Robert Whittaker, a former divisional champ himself.
“I see these two guys [next],” Pereira told MMA Fighting, “Adesanya was a dominant champion so he has the preference to be competing for the belt again, but if he doesn’t want that, it will be Whittaker. I don’t think they’ll put someone else in other than Whittaker. He already said his game doesn’t match well with Adesanya but would be a good fight with me, so I’ll be ready for both.”
“I won’t do anything to hurt Adesanya’s plans and avoid this fight,” he went on, “If that’s what he wants, we’ll fight. If for some reason he doesn’t want to fight me, that makes no difference to me, it’ll be Whittaker instead. And if Whittaker doesn’t want it, there are several others that do.”
“Bobby Knuckles” is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Marvin Vettori at UFC Paris back in September last year. Prior to that, Whittaker lost his rematch to Adesanya at UFC 21 back in February, when Adesanya was still champion. If the Pereira fight materializes, it will land Whittaker another shot at the middleweight crown once again.
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