Chael Sonnen reacts to reports of Alex Pereira moving to heavyweight to fight a rather unlikely opponent: "Have you lost your ever loving mind?"

A recent rumor surfaced that UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is interested in moving up to heavyweight to face a highly unlikely opponent. The opponent, believe it or not, is No.3-ranked UFC heavyweight Alexander 'Drago' Volkov.

Despite being highly ranked, Volkov is not a world champion. He also has no significant beef with 'Poatan', so a bout between them doesn't make much sense. The only other notable time a world champion moved up in weight to face a non-champion was when Anderson Silva faced Forrest Griffin at UFC 101 in 2009.

In a deleted tweet uploaded today, MMA on Point reported on the rumor, saying:

"Per Brazilian reporter Laerte Viana, a heavyweight bout between Alex Pereira and Alexander Volkov is being discussed for UFC 313"

MMA on Point's tweet. [Image credit: @OnPointMMA on X]

MMA legend and known analyst Chael Sonnen replied to the deleted tweet, saying:

"Have you lost you ever loving mind? This must be a rub."

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Alex Pereira vs Alexander Volkov head-to-head analysis

Setting aside championship titles, rankings, and marketability, this bout might hold some water. Both Alex Pereira and Alexander Volkov are striking-based fighters and have similar stats and physiques. Both are tall, lanky strikers with the power to put anyone away instantly.

'Poatan' stands at 6'4" while 'Drago' towers at 6'7". Pereira and Volkov are quite similar in the reach department, listing at 79" and 80", respectively. Regarding weight, where people might see a huge difference, the two are surprisingly not very far apart.

Volkov, fighting at the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds, weighs in at 255, which means he may not necessarily cut weight to beat the scales. As for Pereira, the Brazilian champion fights at 205 pounds but is rumored to come in on fight night weighing at least 230 pounds. If Pereira decides to bulk up a little and not cut weight, he may very well get close to where Volkov weighs.

As far as records go, Pereira is 12-2 with 10 knockouts (and one KO and one submission loss). He does have a kickboxing record of 33-7 (21 KO) and two KO losses. As for Volkov, he stands at 38-11 with 24 KOs and four submissions (two KOs and three submission losses).