Alex Pereira’s coach, Glover Teixeira, is confident about the capability of his student. After grabbing the second belt in the light heavyweight division, Teixeira believes the fighter can also enter the heavyweight division and excel.
In his recent interview on the Trocação Franca podcast, the retired fighter praised “Poatan,” whom he described as a “disciplined professional” capable of efficiently handling weight adjustments.
“It’s all a process,” Teixeira said. “‘Poatan’ is a disciplined professional, and that’s why he managed to make 185 in the first place. It’s not easy for anyone to do what he did. Few people can manage that.
“I’m not saying few people can fight in the UFC, much less win the belt, but to do what he did, losing that much weight, not many can do. In the UFC, I’d say only 10 percent of the fighters can do that weight cut the way he did. It was very brutal, but ‘Poatan’ has the discipline for it.”
Aside from weight cutting, Teixeira thinks that Pereira can also add some weight while ensuring his victory in the heavyweight division. Yet, based on the retired fighter’s guess, his student wouldn’t need to gain too much weight like Jon Jones.
“If he were to move up, he would change his diet and training routine outside the camp to gain mass,” Teixeira said. “‘Poatan’ walks around 233 pounds and I think he can go to 246, but not [over that], you know? I think 242 would be good.”
While this sounds interesting, Teixeira’s statement doesn’t ensure that Pereira will dive into a new division right away. Currently, Poatan is still waiting for his UFC light heavyweight title defense fight, which will reportedly be taken by Jamahal Hill. Also, the Brazilian still hasn’t given up on challenging Israel Adesanya, resulting in multiple callouts recently. Despite defeating “The Last Stylebender” in kickboxing twice and once in UFC MMA, Pereira still aims to fully redeem himself after the rival took him down in their fourth bout at UFC 287 in April. Ben Askren believes the two fighters will headline the UFC 300 event next year.
