Debate over Alex Pereira’s all-time status is heating up ahead of his interim title fight with Ciryl Gane at UFC White House in Washington, DC on Sunday.
The matchup, booked while Tom Aspinall recovers from eye surgery, has sparked talk that a win and a third UFC divisional title for Pereira would make him the greatest fighter in company history.
Michael Bisping is firmly in that camp. “Matchups come into it, but you can’t deny the fact that he would be the only three-weight division champion,” Bisping said, adding, “It’s never been done before. So, you can slice it any way you want. You can say, ‘who was the only person that became a champion in three weight divisions’ and it’s Alex Pereira. So he’d be the greatest of all time then. It’s as simple as that. On accolades alone, it becomes undeniable.”
UFC president Dana White has also said a victory over Gane would make Pereira the UFC GOAT.
Others on the broadcast side are more cautious. Laura Sanko pushed back on crowning Pereira just yet, saying, “It’s a little too soon.”
Veteran Matt Brown was even more dismissive of the GOAT talk coming from the boss. “It’s promoter talk,” Brown said. He continued, “It’s pretty simple, and we can just narrow it down to that and that’s Dana talking what he’s supposed to talk. No one’s really buying it. Maybe some Brazilian fan of Alex Pereira that doesn’t really watch UFC is buying it. But I don’t think any halfway knowledgeable person is buying it. Sometimes what gets confused is most accomplished and greatest. It terms of most accomplished, I guess if [Pereira] wins a third title, you could make that argument. I still wouldn’t think it’s the case, but I could see where you could make that argument. He’s got three titles. No one else ever did it.”
