UFC 335: Pereira says he'd drop to 205 if Pavlovich beats him, rejects Herb Dean

Alex Pereira is already planning his exit from heavyweight, and he has not yet fought his second fight there. Weeks before he meets Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 335 on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas, he says a loss would send him back to light heavyweight. He is also still arguing about how his first heavyweight fight ended.

On Connect Cast, Pereira said he is not as big as the true heavyweights and will not stay there taking a beating at a disadvantage. He expects to go straight into a light heavyweight title fight, though that is his own expectation and the UFC has promised nothing. He said he plans to stay at heavyweight if he wins. He vacated the 205-pound belt to move up, and Carlos Ulberg later won it.

In the same interview, Pereira went back to the second-round TKO loss to Ciryl Gane in June at UFC Freedom 250. He said he does not want Herb Dean as his referee again and believes another referee would have produced a different result, since he was still standing when it was stopped. Dean has not responded in the reports. Knockout Daily notes that in Nevada a fighter can protest a referee assignment but cannot choose the referee.

Israel Adesanya, speaking to Demetrious Johnson on his Precision podcast, did not like it. He objected to the 'if I lose' framing, said he does not know why Pereira took the fight, and thinks 205 is where Pereira does his best work and could get a title shot quickly. The two met twice in the UFC, one win each, and are now on friendly terms.

Pavlovich is no soft landing. He is on a three-fight winning streak that includes a 39-second knockout of Tallison Teixeira, who had been training with Pereira's team. Pereira expects him to open with a flurry and, if the striking fails, try to wrestle him to wear him down. Sparring footage of Pereira taking shots from Glover Teixeira also drew attention from fans.

Pereira is 39 and a former two-division champion. The rankings are odd: after UFC 333, Alexander Volkov climbed above both fighters, but only Pavlovich dropped, leaving Pereira one spot above his opponent. Watch for any reply from Dean or the commission, and for whether the UFC says anything about a title shot at 205.