Alex Pereira issues warning for Dricus du Plessis after UFC 305

Will Alex Pereira return to middleweight to reclaim the belt that was once his?

The UFC light heavyweight champion, who has teased a potential move to heavyweight for a third title, was quick to post his reaction after watching Dricus du Plessis successfully defend the middleweight title at UFC 305 by tapping out Pereira’s longtime rival Israel Adesanya in the fourth round Saturday night in Perth, Australia.

“Coming down to 185 one more time,” Pereira wrote.

“Poatan” won the UFC middleweight belt in 2022 with a fifth-round knockout of Adesanya, but lost it in an immediate rematch five months later. The Brazilian star then moved up to 205 pounds, defeated Jan Blachowicz, and captured the vacant title with a knockout over Jiri Prochazka. Pereira has since defended it twice with knockouts of Jamahal Hill and Prochazka again.

Pereira is currently scheduled to make the third defense of his light heavyweight belt at UFC 307, which goes down Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City.