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UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is excited about Dana White’s commitment to boxing.
After talking about it for years, the UFC CEO made his boldest claim yet about getting into boxing. While White said the plan isn’t to have UFC fighters cross over, Pereira thinks he could be the first from the roster to break in.
Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC), a former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion, fought once professionally in boxing, scoring a third-round TKO of Marcelo de Souza Cruz in June 2017.
“Honestly, man, I feel very good about this,” Pereira told Kevin Iole through an interpreter. “I like boxing. I’ve wanted to fight in boxing for a while. I’m actually going to release, in the next few days, video footage of me sparring the best heavyweight boxer in Brazil.
“It’s a few years ago, the video, but now I’ve gotten much better in the game. Dana White made the announcement, and to be honest, nothing was spoken of between us and the organization. But I feel the partnership will start with me.”
Pereira will look to notch his third light heavyweight title defense when he takes on Khalil Rountree (14-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the main event of UFC 307 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) on Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.