Michael Bisping details why he’s against Alex Pereira’s potential return to middleweight

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping is vehemently against Alex Pereira potentially returning to middleweight for a shot at titleholder Dricus du Plessis.

Pereira will face rising light heavyweight contender Khalil Rountree Jr. in the UFC 307 main event next month in Salt Lake City. He returns to the Octagon after successful title defenses against Jamahal Hill and Jiří Procházka this year.

Pereira, after watching du Plessis’s recent win over Israel Adesanya, has teased a return to the middleweight division. He wants to move back down to 185lbs for a shot at ‘champ-champ’ status.

But, Bisping isn’t keen on the idea of Pereira moving back down, despite Dana White‘s recent openness.

Michael Bisping: Alex Pereira owes it to Magomed Ankalaev to postpone MW return

During a recent reaction video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Bisping explained the downside to Pereira moving back down to 185lbs.

“That’s amazing, double champ status and all the rest of it, I don’t like it,” Bisping said of Pereira. “First and foremost, he’s got people to fight already. You can’t look past Khalil Rountree…don’t underestimate the man. If you ask fighters what they want down the line, they say ‘I’m not looking past this guy…’ but it’s a bit of a cop-out…after Khalil, if he’s victorious, he has to fight Magomed Ankalaev, and by the way [Ankalaev] isn’t happy about this…

“We want to see great champions, and Alex Pereira is a great champion. Make no mistake. We want to see them take on all comers in the division, but also prove that they can beat all of these different types of styles,” Bisping continued. “Magomed Ankalaev, on paper, is a very tough stylistic matchup because of the Dagestani wrestling. If you look at Pereira, he’s had a favorable path. I’m not talking s***, I’m just saying look at the facts…but what I’m saying is Magomed Ankalaev gives a different look, and if he wants to fight him, and if he was to beat him, he would shut any of the critics up.”

Du Plessis and Pereira have gone back and forth on social media in recent days. In the meantime, Pereira’s potential middleweight comeback is postponed until at least after UFC 307.