Ex-UFC champion believes Alex Pereira’s durability will improve in heavier weight class
Add ex-UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping to the MMA contingency who believes the weight cut to 185 pounds took a toll on former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira.
The 44-year-old retired Brit stated he expects to see a better, more durable version of Pereira at 205 pounds where he won’t have to go through as many rigors of weight cutting as he did to make the 185-pound limit.
“Those hard weight cuts and look at the size of Pereira — that was a tough weight cut every time he did it,” Bisping said recently on his YouTube channel. “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.”
Pereira officially announced he was moving up a weight class less than a week ago, making it clear he had no issue making weight, despite remarks to the contrary from others including UFC president Dana White.
During his professional kickboxing days, Pereira, who stands 6-foot-4 and regularly walks around at upward of 200 pounds, alternated between middleweight (187 pounds) and light heavyweight (209 pounds).
Pereira has only been knocked out three times in nearly 50 pro fights between MMA and kickboxing. All three knockouts have come at middleweight-or-equivalent weight classes, which typically require him to cut in excess of 15 pounds or more — something he won’t have to worry about by moving to the UFC’s light heavyweight division.
“He will be a bigger, better, stronger, more stamina, fitter, higher output, and could take a better shot,” Bisping added. “And he better be able to take a better shot at 205 because they do hit harder.”
More must-reads: