Pereira wants it, Usyk wants it, and ‘Poatan’ believes the UFC and Turki Alalshikh may be interested given their growing partnership.
Could Alex Pereira be the next UFC fighter to cross over into boxing?
A lot of moving parts have to fall into place, but “Poatan” is certainly interested in a bout against Oleksandr Usyk, who recently said he was open to a ‘show fight’ with the light heavyweight champion. Now Pereira is responding in kind.
“I had already said that before, right, that I would really like to have a boxing match,” Pereira told Mark Bouris in Australia. “And they asked me who it would be. I said, ‘Well, I am champion right so it would have to be a champion, and [Usyk] is the champion. And now, he gave an interview and said my name, so it is something that I want. He also wants.”
The most important part of the equation, as always, is what the UFC wants. In the past they’ve been extremely reluctant to allow any boxing shenanigans under their watch, but perhaps things will be different now that parent company TKO is reportedly working with Turki Alalshikh to put together a new boxing league in the fall.
“And the two organizations, right, they are working kind of together,” Pereira said. “So I think now it will, I believe that this fight can happen.”
While Usky is more of a cruiserweight than a true heavyweight and there’s plenty of footage of Pereira hanging with high level boxers, we don’t particularly like “Poatan’s” chances against the current top heavyweight boxer in the world.
EXCLUSIVE: Unified King Oleksandr Usyk eyes ‘show fight’ with Alex Pereira…
Usyk’s road to retirement…BOOK IT pic.twitter.com/13YyFTASou
— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) February 13, 2025
It would undoubtedly be a massive payday for Pereira, though. Usyk made $122 million in 2024 fighting for Alalshikh, and we’re sure Alex would bank eight figures even as the B-side with UFC taking a massive chunk.
First, though, Pereira will have to beat Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 on March 8th. Then Usyk has to beat the winner of Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker, which goes down February 22nd.
What do you think, Maniacs? Is this something you want to see or is it crazy talk that we’re discussing this when Alex Pereira vs. Jon Jones is right there? Let us know in the comments below!