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Dana White once spoke about Alex Pereira's wishes to transfer to boxing. With Pereira's remarkable success on the MMA circuit, the UFC CEO was not convinced that he would want to see the Brazilian participating in boxing bouts.
In Sep. 2024, White hinted that he would return to the boxing world as a promoter. 'Poatan' was among a few fighters who were soon excited about this news. Pereira, though, also made it known that he was keen on following a boxing career and fighting under White's new promotion.
In an interview with Kevin Iole, the UFC CEO was asked if he would be open to seeing the Brazilian fight in boxing matches. In response, White said:
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"When you look at where he [Pereira] is right now in his career, he's at the top of the game, he's about to break this record like you said if he wins the fight on Saturday night, and god knows what other records he could break here... I don't know, I'm not even thinking about that kind of stuff. I'm not thinking about crossover fight. I hate crossover fights."
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He added:
"I respect the fact that he wants to do it, and I know there's tons of other fighters that probably want to do it, but I want everybody to stay in their own lane."
Check out Dana White's comments on Alex Pereira below (13:18)
Pereira has participated in a professional boxing match once. In June 2017, he won against Marcelo de Souza Cruz by TKO in Brazil. Additionally, 'Poatan' reportedly has an amateur boxing record of 25 wins and 3 losses.
When Dana White expressed his thoughts on Alex Pereira's defeat at UFC 313
Alex Pereira was on a dominating winning streak since his transition to the UFC light heavyweight division. However, that streak eventually came to an end at UFC 313, where he faced Magomed Ankalaev.
After a hard-fought five-round battle, Pereira lost by unanimous decision and was dethroned by the Dagestani fighter as the UFC light heavyweight champion.
In the post-fight press conference, when Dana White was asked for his thoughts on the main event fight and how it transpired, he seemed at a loss for words.
"Yeah, it was... not what I expected. I expected a lot more shooting, I expected a lot more exchanges."
Check out Dana White's comments below (0:47):
