Glover Teixeira Glad to See Alex Pereira Move to LHW: ‘For Him to Drop to 185 is Crazy’

According to Glover Teixeira, former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira made the right decision to move to 205 pounds.

“I was like, ‘I love it that you’re going to light heavyweight,’ because I don’t want to see him cutting that much weight,” Teixeira said at a post-fight press conference following his victory over Anthony Smith in a grappling match at the UFC Fight Pass 4 Invitational. “You don’t know how much that guy cut. He’s 230 pounds right now, and he’s lean, he’s probably like eight percent body fat. For him to drop to 185 is crazy … As you get older it gets harder and harder. Eventually it gets bad for your health.

Pereira, who trains at Teixeira MMA & Fitness, will make his light heavyweight debut against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 on July 29 in Salt Lake City. “Poatan” is coming off a second-round KO loss to Israel Adesanya in a rematch at UFC 281 this past April.

“I think it’s a great matchup for Alex,” Teixeira said. “I think Alex is gonna take over the whole division. He’s gonna be a champion again at light heavyweight.”

If Pereira beats Blachowicz, he will likely already be one of the top title contenders at 205 pounds. That would set up an intriguing showdown with Jamahal Hill, who defeated Texeira to claim the vacant belt in January. Texeira wouldn’t mind seeing his protege avenge that defeat.

“For sure, the style with Jamahal Hill and Alex, it’s perfect for Alex,” Teixeira said. “Listen, Jamahal Hill is a great fighter, and Jan is a great fighter. We’re not looking past Jan over here like that. Styles make fights. My style was more grappling, and Jan is a tremendous striker. He beat Israel Adesanya and he was doing really good in the standup before he started going for the ground. Jan is dangerous, he hits hard.

“But if everything goes to plan and Alex can get past Jan, for sure I think Jamahal Hill will be an amazing fight for Alex, and it would be nice to see revenge — nothing against Jamahal Hill, he’s a great guy as well, but yeah.”