UFC 300 headliner Alex Pereira open to quick turnaround for UFC 301 in Rio
Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is still willing to headline UFC 301.
Dana White announced Saturday that Pereira (9-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) will defend his title against Jamahal Hill (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in the UFC 300 main event April 13 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Pereira revealed that the promotion’s initial plans were to have him headline UFC 301 May 4 at Rio Arena, but he’s more than ready to compete a month earlier.
“We were talking with the UFC to make this fight in Brazil,” Pereira said through an interpreter on his YouTube channel. “Then they came up with the idea to bring it a little earlier and make it on UFC 300, which for me is a good thing because I’ve already been training hard. The fight being before what was expected makes it even better for me. I’m in good shape, I’ve been training hard, and I’m excited for the fight.”
If Pereira gets past Hill unscathed, he’d have to turnaround in less than a month to fight at home. His 21-day turnaround would mark the shortest window between title defenses in company history, with former UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey holding the current record at 56 days between UFC 168 in December 2013 and UFC 170 in February 2014.
Having made quick turnarounds several times during his kickboxing career, “Poatan” is willing to try.
“I always spoke that I want to defend the belt hopefully in a very fast pace in a row, two times,” Pereira said. “Now this would be the opportunity, with the cards being so close to each other, for me to be able to defend at UFC 300 and maybe in Rio. That is a very big possibility because if I don’t get hurt, I did this before in kickboxing.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.