When Alex Pereira dismissed Khamzat Chimaev's callout, explained why he doesn't want to fight 'Borz': "Go back to the line"

In 2022, Khamzat Chimaev expressed an interesting in facing Alex Pereira. The Brazilian was uninterested, however, and dismissed any notion of potentially facing 'Borz.'

At the time, 'Poatan' had just knocked out Sean Strickland at UFC 276 in the first round of their bout. The win over 'Tarzan' also secured Pereira a title shot against then-champion and longtime rival of the Brazilian's, Israel Adesanya.

Following Pereira's victory over Strickland, Chimaev, who himself had recently picked up a unanimous decision victory over Gilbert Burns, took to social media to call for a bout against Pereira. He tweeted:

"I'm want to fight with this guy @ufc @danawhite let's make it 👊💥"

Whilst the potential match-up certainly piqued the interest of fans at the time, Alex Pereira was having none of it.

Speaking on MMA Fighting's Trocação Franca podcast in 2022, the former GLORY kickboxing champion stated that 'Borz' is doing nothing but seeking attention and clout by calling him out for a fight. Pereira said:

"Look at this guy [Chimaev]. I’m going to fight for the belt, it’s guaranteed. He wants attention. ‘Oh, I wanna fight this guy.’ He knows I’m the next contender and he still says something like that. [Chimaev] wants attention because he knows it doesn’t make sense. I’m going to go back and fight him when I’m already guaranteed for the belt? He wants attention, but he’ll have to take a number and go back to the line. [H/t MMA Fighting]"

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Daniel Cormier says he is "past" betting against Alex Pereira

Daniel Cormier has refused to rule out Alex Pereira's chances if he were to move up to heavyweight.

Pereira has expressed an interesting in potentially stepping up a division in the future, having already won the middleweight and light heavyweight titles in just 8 fights in the promotion.

'DC' discussed the 'Poatan's' fighting future during a recent interview with MMA Junkie. According to the UFC Hall of Famer, the Brazilian is now in the position to do just about anything he wants, as he has continued to prove any of his doubters wrong. Cormier said:

"[Alex Pereira] can be successful at heavyweight. I think that he can do whatever he wants. Man, I'm past betting against Alex Pereira [and] saying that he can't do something. Time and time again, Pereira has proven he can do whatever he wants... Him at heavyweight, there are issues. But there are [those same] issues at 205 [pounds]."

Catch Cormier's comments here: