LAS VEGAS -- Alex Pereira has seven months until he celebrates his three-year anniversary in the UFC, and already he has established himself as one of the greatest fighters in the promotion's history. He's 7-1 since joining the UFC on Nov. 4, 2021, winning titles at middleweight and welterweight.
In seven of the nine fights he's had in the UFC, the man standing across from him held a UFC championship at some point. After opening his UFC career with wins over Andreas Michailidis and Bruno Silva, he's faced nothing but men who have been champions since: Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya twice, Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka and, Saturday in the main event of UFC 300, Jamahal Hill.
It's been a remarkable run and on Saturday, he added to the legend by stopping Hill with a crushing left hand just 3:14 into the first. He got hit with a low blow, and referee Herb Dean moved in to call time to allow him to recover. Pereira pushed Dean away, took a step in and threw a left hand down the pipe that hit Hill in the middle of the face.
He went down hard and Pereira quickly finished him on the ground.
He's carving a spot for himself in the UFC Hall of Fame with these kinds of performances.
He could, though, top himself if given the opportunity by moving to heavyweight. He's 6 feet 4 inches and he was over 230 pounds when he stepped into the Octagon at almost 10:30 local time on Saturday. It's no stretch to think that he could put on enough muscle to be at 245 or so in a fight.
After the bout, he told Joe Rogan in the Octagon that he'd like two things: He wants to fight in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in UFC 301 next month, and he wants to fight at heavyweight. He wouldn't make more of it later, leaving it up to UFC management.
UFC CEO Dana White was giddy at the post-fight news conference, so successful was the night. The card was one of the best the UFC ever put together and it delivered big-time, delivering great fight after great fight.
White wasn't, though, all that enamored of the idea of Pereira going to heavyweight. He noted the presence of champion Jon Jones, interim champion Tom Aspinall and former champion Stipe Miocic.
The plan is for Jones and Miocic to fight at some point, but there's still no news. Jones has fought once in four years and not at all in the last 13 months. Miocic hasn't fought since losing his belt to Francis Ngannou on March 27, 2021.
Miocic is 41 years old. Jones is 36. Neither are going to suddenly become balls of fire and fight often again.
If Miocic ever does return to fight Jones, it says here he won't take another bout after that, win or lose. Jones may not fight more than twice more. Aspinall is a talented heavyweight with the skills to make him a legend, but no logical opponents.
Pereira deserves the right to call his own shots. He is seemingly healthy and if he wants to fight at UFC 301, why not? He'd get a king's welcome returning home as a champion.
If he wants to move to heavyweight, he should have a chance to chase history.
Yes, Jones is the greatest fighter to have ever stepped into the Octagon. Perhaps he'd toy with Pereira, toss him around and either win a one-side decision or submit him. Perhaps.
Pereira, though, should get the chance to try his hand if he wants that. Given what he's done, he deserves the opportunity more than Miocic, who hasn't fought in 37 months. Pereira has eight fights since he started in the UFC, and Miocic hasn't fought once in that span.
One of the reasons UFC 300 was so special was because of Max Holloway's knockout of Justin Gaethje in the final second, literally, of their BMF title fight earlier on the card. Holloway challenged Gaethje, who was perceived to be too big and too strong, and not only showed well but dominated the fight and finished Gaethje violently.
That had the entire place, filled with 20,067 raving fans, buzzing.
Middleweight has a championship weight limit of 185 and light heavyweight has one of 205. That's a huge leap and too much for most men. But the heavyweights are fighting from 240 pounds up, so Pereira would be going up more than 60 pounds from his middleweight championship days.
That would be a fascinating challenge, and he's got the resume that suggests he could be competitive. This isn't to say he'll handle Jones, Miocic or Aspinall with ease. Far from it. They're all great in their own rights and incredibly skilled. It could wind up being too much for one man. No one shocked if it's too big of a challenge for even a legend like Pereira.
But all he wants is an opportunity. He's not asking to be gifted the belts. Give him a chance to make history.
Here's guessing if it happens, White will leave that fight buzzing like he was Saturday. It's that big of an achievement, and Pereira deserves the right to try if it's what he wants.