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.
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This article was originally published on MMA Junkie: Curtis Blaydes: ‘I would fuck Alex Pereira’