Who's the ideal opponent for Alex Pereira's light heavyweight debut? Former UFC champion weighs in

Alex Pereira came unstuck against Israel Adesanya in what may end up being the final clash in their epic history, as the Brazilian was defeated via KO in round two of UFC 287.

'Poatan' is known to have cut an enormous amount of weight to make the 185 pound limit and prior to his clash with Adesanya, there was speculation about whether or not the UFC 287 title fight would be his final appearance at middleweight.

Several days after his defeat, Alex Pereira announced that he would indeed be moving up to light heavyweight. Since the Brazilian's announcement, Daniel Cormier has commented on who 'Poatan' should face first at 205 pounds. 'DC' said this:

"“I think that’s the only one at 205 that you want to avoid right now is Ankalaev because Ankalaev can wrestle, and we saw that in the fight against Jan Blachowicz, where he took him down for the last three rounds." 3:55-4:10

"I want to see Jamahal Hill vs. Jiri Prochazka, I want to see Pereira vs. Jan Blachowicz..." 11:23-11:31

Watch the video below:

Alex Pereira's head coach, Glover Teixeira, was recently defeated by Jamahal Hill at UFC 284. 'Sweet Dreams' was crowned the new light heavyweight champion, and fans were giddy at the thought of 'Poatan' moving up a division to avenge his coach.

However, UFC president Dana White has confirmed that Pereira will need to beat a known quantity at light heavyweight before he is granted a title shot.

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Michael Bisping believes that Alex Pereira's brutal weight cut contributed to his UFC 287 loss

Alex Pereira was knocked out cold by Israel Adesanya at UFC 287, and Michael Bisping believes that the Brazilian's brutal weight cut played a crucial factor in his downfall.

'Poatan' is known to cut a lot of weight to make the middleweight championship limit of 185 pounds. In fact, UFC president Dana White stated during the post-event press conference at UFC 287 that Pereira still had several pounds to cut when the official weigh-ins for the PPV event began.

Bisping speculated on how Alex Pereira's weight cut may have contributed to him being knocked out by Adesanya during a recent YouTube video. He said this:

"They drain you, they sap you, they affect your stamina, they affect your recovery, they affect the training camp because you can’t eat carbohydrates, and you can’t recover from one session to the next. You get tired as the fights go on and more importantly, they affect your ability to take a punch."

Watch the video below from 5:40: