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'He’s F****** Nasty,' Dana White Heaps Praise on Alex Pereira for Teasing Middleweight Return

The UFC CEO spoke candidly about Alex Pereira's desire to return to middleweight and win multiple titles.

Zain Bando

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

If there is one champion UFC CEO Dana White doesn't have to stress about, it's UFC light heavyweight titleholder Alex Pereira.

Pereira will make another defense of his light heavyweight title next month, headlining UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, Utah, against Khalil Rountree. Although Pereira seems content with continuing to dominate the 205-pound division, a recent Instagram post suggests that the Brazilian is open to moving back down to middleweight to reclaim his once-coveted title.

"I’m focused on my next fight, and I’m going prepared, but you never know what can happen, so regardless of the result, I want to go down one more time to the middleweight and go for the belt. Hey Dricus, bring your will to fight me so you can prove that you are better than me, with your public statement it is easy to make this happen, Chama," Pereira wrote.

Dricus Du Plessis, fresh off a successful title defense against former champion Israel Adesanya, also responded with his choice words while taking a slight dig on a potential man-crush between Pereira and Sean Strickland.

Dana White Reacts to Dricus Du Plessis, Alex Pereira Beef

At Tuesday night's DWCS Week 4 post-fight presser, White quickly expressed his thoughts on the exchanges despite not having seen the posts directly.

“My take on him is, he’s f*cking nasty,” White told reporters. "That’s my take on him. He wants to move up. He wants to move down. He wants to go everywhere. That’s why people love him. Those are the type of fighters people love. Pereira wants to fight everybody. I love it."

White added Pereira is one of those fighters that the UFC can easily rely on because he will always say yes to opportunities.

"The thing that’s great about it is, this is why I said a minute ago everybody loves him and he’s great. But it also gives us a ton of options that as we’re in matchmaking, ‘Should we do this, should we do that? Shouldn’t we do this, shouldn’t we do that?’ It’s a good problem to have with a guy like him. How about he’s on vacation and accepts the last-minute fight? Everything about Alex Pereira is what makes fans absolutely love the guy.”

Pereira is on a four-fight winning streak since losing to Adesanya in April of last year, which includes wins against Jiří Procházka (x2) and Jamahal Hill. Perera made the jump to light heavyweight last summer and has not looked back.

Only time will tell what Pereira's next steps are after his fight with Rountree, but one thing is for certain: his legacy is still being written.

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Zain Bando

ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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