Zhilei Zhang recalls sparring Alex Pereira in boxing ring, backs 'Poatan' to win UFC heavyweight title: "He kind of dominates everybody standing"

Zhilei Zhang recently reflected on his boxing sparring session with Alex Pereira, noting his appreciation for the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion's impressive skills in the squared circle.

Last March, social media lit up with photos of Zhang and Pereira sharing the boxing ring in a collaborative training session as they prepared for their respective bouts against Joe Joyce and Israel Adesanya.

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting), the former WBO interim heavyweight champion recounted his sparring experience with 'Poatan' and lavished praise on the Brazilian mixed martial artist's prowess in the ring:

"We sparred once, for four rounds. That day I remember it was 12 rounds for me. I had two guys before Alex Pereira went in the ring, so we did four rounds. We both had a fight coming up and we didn’t have any footage or filming about the sparring. He’s a good boxer. I can tell you he has good reflexes, good speed, and good power. I watched his fights a lot in the UFC. He kind of dominates everybody standing."

With UFC titles already under his belt in both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, Pereira is on the verge of making history as the promotion's first-ever three-division champion if he successfully transitions to heavyweight. 'Big Bang' is confident that Pereira has what it takes to make the leap and dominate in this new weight class. Zhang further added:

"I think he has it. He has the power to translate to heavyweight."

Pereira successfully transitioned to the 205-pound division with a decision win over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291. 'Poatan' then claimed the vacant light heavyweight title by defeating Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 and has already defended his belt twice this year, both victories coming within a two-month span.

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Georges St-Pierre weighs in with advice for Alex Pereira on heavyweight ambitions

Georges St-Pierre recently offered his perspective on Alex Pereira's potential move up to the heavyweight division.

During an interview with Covers, the UFC Hall of Famer advised that while 'Poatan' has consistently demonstrated his prowess against the best strikers in the octagon, he should first test himself against high-level grapplers or wrestlers before contemplating a move to a higher weight class:

"I think Alex Pereira is the best striker the light heavyweight division has ever seen. It's just incredible. But the question is, how would he pair up against a guy who's more of a wrestler? A guy who's gonna try to bring the fight to the ground? He needs to answer that before trying to go up because, in the heavyweight division, you have Tom Aspinall. Jon Jones, these guys are very good wrestlers."

Check out Georges St-Pierre's comments below (0:55):