Robert Whittaker is not one to shy away from a challenge.
The former UFC middleweight champion has fought the who’s who throughout his career from Khamzat Chimaev, to Israel Adesanya, and Yoel Romero twice. He made good in his 205-pound debut when he stopped Nikita Krylov at UFC 329.
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Former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion Pereira (13-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) failed to capture a third belt when he was finished by Ciryl Gane in their interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250. He will look to rebound when he meets Sergei Pavlovich (20-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in a five-round bout, which co-headlines UFC 335 on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+).
Pereira said he’d likely drop back down to light heavyweight if he falls short against Pavlovich, and Whittaker (27-9 MMA, 18-7 UFC) will be right there waiting.
“It would be great. I would love to welcome him back (to light heavyweight) – it would be fun,” Whittaker told Submission Radio of Pereira. “It would be a lot of fun. We would have to wait and see.”
However, Whittaker doesn’t see Pereira falling to Pavlovich.
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“The division is moving. It’s shifting. A lot of big fights coming up, and we have to see what happens with Pereira,” Whittaker said. “I don’t know how Pavlovich beats Pereira. Pavlovich doesn’t beat him by decision. He’d have to bum-rush him and throw a big bomb of a hand.”
Whittaker takes on Bogdan Guskov (18-4-1 MMA, 4-2-1 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 298 co-main event on Feb. 6 from Afterpay Arena in Sydney.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Robert Whittaker would love to welcome Alex Pereira back to light heavyweight
