Chael Sonnen believes he knows why Alex Pereira is moving up to light heavyweight.
After losing the middleweight championship to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 this past weekend, Pereira announced that he was moving up to the 205 division.
“My next fight will be at 205!” said Pereira via his YouTube channel. “I think I did my job at 185 and now I’m feeling good to go up to 205. Like I told you, when I’m feeling good, I will go up. This will be something natural, and now I think it is.
“My next opponent, I can’t tell you yet, but I will keep you updated here on my channel,” he said.
“Also, I want to make one thing clear, this division, 185, I always made weight. A lot of people had doubts, but I always fulfilled my obligation. But now is the moment to go up to the next division. This will be better for me.”
On his Youtube podcast, Sonnen says he spoke with someone close to Pereira and they told him the former UFC middleweight champion is moving up because wants to “win new things.”
“I spoke to someone who knows him [Pereira] very well, and they told me Pereira’s going to 205,” Sonnen said. “He says, ‘Well, you’ve got to understand how Pereira’s mind works, Pereira wants to do new things, he wants to win new things, so if you offer him a chance to fight Izzy, first you’re offering him a chance to 185-pound champion, he’s already done that.
Second, you’re offering him a chance to beat Israel Adesanya, he’s already done that. So the way that his mind works, he will go to 205 and try to do and beat people that he has not yet done and beaten.”
