{"id":36925,"date":"2026-02-23T17:08:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T17:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Dana-White-has-contrasting-opinions-on-two-UFC-champions-moving-up-in-weight-200225"},"modified":"2026-02-23T17:08:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T17:08:34","slug":"dana-white-has-contrasting-opinions-on-two-ufc-champions-moving-up-in-weight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/dana-white-has-contrasting-opinions-on-two-ufc-champions-moving-up-in-weight\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana White has contrasting opinions on two UFC champions moving up in weight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Dana White doesn\u2019t think similarly about every
\nUFC<\/a> champion planning to move up a weight class. <\/p>\n

Light heavyweight champion Alex
\nPereira<\/a> reclaimed his title by knocking out Magomed
\nAnkalaev<\/a> at UFC 320<\/a>
\nlast year, avenging a previous loss. Pereira is now eyeing a move
\nup to heavyweight. White says \u201cPoatan\u201d has always stepped up for
\nthe UFC and deserves to do whatever he wants. White assures that
\nthe promotion will work with the Brazilian on whatever his next
\nplan is.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys who always steps up and does whatever we
\nneed him to do,\u201d White said<\/a> at the UFC Houston post-fight press
\nconference. \u201cWhatever that guy wants to do, we\u2019ll work with
\nhim.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Need to Defend<\/h2>\n

However, White doesn\u2019t think the same about middleweight champion
\nKhamzat
\nChimaev<\/a>. Chimaev won the middleweight title via a dominant
\nunanimous decision against Dricus Du
\nPlessis<\/a> at
\nUFC 319<\/a> last year. \u201cBorz\u201d is now eyeing a move up to light
\nheavyweight to challenge Pereira. However, White would rather see
\nthe undefeated Chechen-born defend his middleweight title
\nfirst.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to see him defend his title first at that weight,\u201d White
\nsaid. \u201cI\u2019d like to see him defend his title before he talks about
\njumping around. You\u2019re gonna keep up in weight divisions without
\ndefending? I\u2019d rather see him defend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pereira (13-3) made his UFC debut in 2021 and won the middleweight
\ntitle by defeating Israel
\nAdesanya<\/a> the next year. Pereira moved up to light heavyweight
\nafter losing his title to Adesanya in the immediate rematch.
\nPereira won the vacant light heavyweight title against Jiri
\nProchazka<\/a> in 2023 and defended it thrice within a year before
\nlosing to Ankalaev. The Brazilian is arguably the UFC\u2019s biggest
\nstar, especially after reclaiming his title against
\nAnkalaev. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, despite looking promising early on, Chimaev\u2019s (15-0) UFC
\ncareer has been plagued by injuries and weight cut struggles. After
\nmissing weight by a whopping 7.5 pounds that led to the reshuffling
\nof the entire UFC 279 main card in 2022, Chimaev finally moved up
\nto middleweight for good. \u201cBorz\u201d finally became a UFC champion last
\nyear, five years after his UFC debut in 2020.  <\/p>\n