MANCHESTER, England – When a UFC 304 Media Day reporter prefaced his question with the mention of “[autotag]Alexandre Pereira[/autotag]the inevitable move to the heavyweight division”, [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] He didn’t hesitate to interrupt him with two words that spoke volumes.
“Bad idea,” Blaydes said.
Pereira, a former middleweight champion and current light heavyweight titleholder, teased a move to heavyweight after two successful defenses of his 205-pound belt this year. If the UFC grants Pereira’s wishes, it will be a matchup that Blaydes would welcome with open arms.
“I know this is what everyone wants to hear: yes, I would fuck Alex Pereira,” Blaydes said. “Not because he’s not good, (but because) I’m heavier. Just a heavyweight, gravity, weight matters. It’s not his skill base. That’s the way it is.”
In fact, Blaydes (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) is so confident that he had no qualms about sharing how he would approach a fight with Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC).
“He, I will give you my premeditated plan: I will shoot immediately,” Blaydes said. “Why would I give him any chance of knocking me out when I know I can knock him down at will? And I’m sure he needs to know that. I think he’s looking for a specific heavyweight, not just any heavyweight.”
First, Blaydes has business to attend to on Saturday at Co-op Live, where he will meet interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in the evening’s co-main event. A win there would put Blaydes on Pereira’s radar, given his career goal of making history as the first UFC fighter to win gold in three divisions.
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC 304.
This article was originally published on MMA Junkie: Curtis Blaydes: ‘I would fuck Alex Pereira’
