Alex Pereira Asks Fans Who He Should Fight Next This Year
Alex Pereira is in Las Vegas and already shopping for one more fight before the calendar turns. The former two-division champion posted a short video asking supporters to name his next opponent, saying fan opinion matters when the UFC decides who he meets.
“I am here in Vegas, very eager to fight,” Pereira said. “I wanna fight this year, one more fight, and I would like to know your opinion because it’s very important.”
He framed the request as useful to the promotion as well as to him. “It’s very important, even for the organization as they pick the next opponent,” he said. “Everyone knows that the fans, the public has a lot of power, so I would like for you to leave your opinions in the comments below who should be my next opponent.”
The clip ends with his usual sendoff. “Chama.”
Pereira last fought on June 14 at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn. He debuted at heavyweight against Ciryl Gane for the interim title and lost by TKO at 1:27 of the second round. He has said illegal shots to the back of the head played a role in the stoppage and has already asked the UFC for an immediate rematch. His record now sits at 13-4.
He vacated the light heavyweight belt earlier this year to chase a third division title. That path stalled when Gane finished him. Gane was later lined up to meet Tom Aspinall at UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden, but Aspinall’s right-eye injury kept doctors from clearing him and pushed any return toward January. The vacant heavyweight picture is what makes Pereira’s poll more than a social media exercise.
Pereira has already pointed at Gane in separate comments this month and mentioned Madison Square Garden as the venue he wants. This new video does not name an opponent. It asks the audience to do it, which keeps every option on the table while he sits in Las Vegas waiting for the office to move.
The realistic list is short. A Gane rematch would be the fight he has publicly chased since June and would put the interim belt back in front of him while Aspinall heals. A return to 205 pounds would mean facing whoever holds the light heavyweight title after he walked away from that division. Neither booking is confirmed. Pereira’s only firm request in the video is timing. He wants the fight in 2026.
That window is closing. November at Madison Square Garden has been the date he and others have circled. A December card is possible if November fills without him. Sitting into 2027 would break the promise he just made on camera.
Fan polls do not book fights. Matchmakers still have to clear medicals, contracts, and a live date. Pereira knows that, which is why he aimed the message at the organization as much as at the comments section. He is a former middleweight and light heavyweight champion with knockout power that still sells pay-per-view numbers. The UFC has used that drawing power before. The question is whether it uses it again before the year ends.
Pereira is 39 and coming off the first heavyweight loss of his MMA career. He does not sound finished. He sounds impatient. The next opponent will tell whether the company agrees that one more fight in 2026 is the right call, and whether that fight is Gane, a light heavyweight titleholder, or someone else the comments section tries to force onto the page.
For now the only official word is the one he posted from Las Vegas. Alex Pereira wants one more fight this year, and he wants the public to say who it should be.