UFC president Dana White has shot down Alex Pereira’s requests despite previously allowing Conor McGregor to do the exact thing.
White is regarded as the face of the UFC and will not allow his fighters to pursue their wishes if he feels it does not align with the company’s best interests.
However, one of his current fighters may not pleased with the American’s stance on his current request.
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UFC light heavyweight champion Pereira comes from a kickboxing background and has flirted with a crossover fight in boxing. The Brazilian holds a professional boxing record of one victory, which took place in June 2017.
White appeared on Kevin Iole’s podcast and did not seem overjoyed with the idea of one of his champions trying their hand at boxing.
“I don’t know,” Dana White said when asked about the UFC champion’s desire to box.
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“I mean, when you look at where he’s at right now, he’s at the top of this game. He’s about to break [Ronda Rousey’s record] if he wins the fight on Saturday night. God knows what other records he could break here. He’s 38 years old, which is even more impressive when you add that on top of anything else.”
He added: “I don’t know [if he will fight in boxing]. I’m not even thinking about that kind of stuff, I’m not thinking about crossover fights. I hate crossover fights, I respect the fact that he wants to do it. I know there’s tons of other fights that probably want to do it. But, I want everybody to stay in their own lane.”
In fairness to Pereira, he may feel slightly annoyed at the fact this has happened before. The highest profile example was Conor McGregor’s bout with Floyd Mayweather in August 2017.
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Unfortunately, despite being a gifted mixed martial artist, he does not have the star power that McGregor possessed during his peak years. At the time, the Irishman was widely regarded as the biggest name in combat sports, which would have helped his bargaining tools when negotiating with White.
The Brazilian will defend his title at UFC 307 on October 6 against Khalil Rountree Jr with his desire of boxing put on the shelf for now.
Topics: UFC, Conor McGregor, Dana White
Luke Davies