Despite having a brewing rivalry, Alex Pereira has largely remained reluctant to engage Khamzat Chimaev in his callouts. But now, ‘Poatan’ appears to have changed his mind. At present, the former light heavyweight champion is set to clash against Ciryl Gane at UFC White House for the interim heavyweight title. After that showdown on June 14, the Brazilian seemingly does not mind a superfight against the Chechen, and he has left the final call with Dana White.

“I’m here to fight,” Alex Pereira said during the UFC Freedom 250 pre-fight presser. “Dana White is the president of UFC. Whatever he wants to do, I’m in.”

Alex Pereira and Khamzat Chimaev’s rivalry began when the Brazilian defeated Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 to become the middleweight champion. ‘Borz’ later called out Pereira on social media for a championship clash, but that remained a distant possibility after the former two-division kingpin moved to 205 lbs. Still, Chimaev stayed persistent in pursuing the matchup.

The reigning middleweight champion called out Pereira multiple times after the Brazilian won the light heavyweight title. In fact, Chimaev initially pitched a superfight at UFC White House against Alex Pereira. Yet, the former 205 lbs champion denied any possibility of fighting the Chechen, claiming he was not a big enough star.

After that, Pereira’s move to heavyweight halted any immediate chances of the matchup happening, until ‘Borz’ once again expressed interest in moving to the 265 lbs division to fight the Brazilian. During UFC 328 media day, Khamzat stated that he was still interested in facing Pereira. He hoped the former champion would lose against Ciryl Gane and come down so they could eventually meet at 205 lbs. At the same time, he also showed willingness to move up to heavyweight if necessary to chase the biggest fight of his career. 

Speaking about the potential superfight, Dana White stated earlier this year that the Chechen native needed to defend his middleweight title before thinking about the next step. In that regard, Chimaev has even hinted at the possibility of moving up to the 205 lbs division after a potential fight against Sean Strickland at UFC 328.

So, if Chimaev manages to win his next fight, move to 205 lbs, and dominate a few opponents, the promotion could eventually feel compelled to book Chimaev vs Pereira at heavyweight. But that is still a long road ahead.

Now, with that possibility still alive, a former champion believes Alex Pereira facing Khamzat Chimaev would be a stylistically dangerous matchup for the Brazilian.  

Henry Cejudo predicts Khamzat Chimaev would dominate Alex Pereira in a fight  

Alex Pereira vs Khamzat Chimaev is undoubtedly one of the dream matchups UFC fans would love to see. Yet, many believe the showdown would heavily favor the Chechen-Emirati star because of his elite wrestling skills. Bringing up that exact point, Henry Cejudo also believes that ‘Borz’ would be a very difficult stylistic matchup for ‘Poatan’ if they ever meet in the future.

“Stylistically this is a great fight for Khamzat Chimaev because Khamzat Chimaev can grapple,” ‘Triple C’ said during an episode of the Pound for Pound podcast. “You know this, Kamaru. I feel like his top control and the discipline he has, I think it’s a really, really good fight for a guy like Khamzat Chimaev. Yeah, I do favor Khamzat in that one, 100 percent.”

Still, Pereira has shown major improvements in his takedown defense over the years. During his fight against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, the Brazilian successfully defended multiple takedown attempts despite ending up on the losing side.

However, it would not be a stretch to say that Chimaev’s grappling pedigree presents a completely different challenge compared to Ankalaev, who is not primarily known as a wrestler. In that case, Cejudo’s concern for Pereira may not be entirely unfounded despite ‘Poatan’s game-changing power. 

That said, with the two marquee UFC stars currently competing two weight divisions apart, the chances of this fight materializing remain slim, especially considering Alex Pereira is already 38 years old. Still, in MMA, circumstances can change quickly, and the bitter rivals could eventually collide inside the Octagon.

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