Alex Pereira targets 242 pounds for UFC White House heavyweight debut

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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 25: (R-L) Tom Aspinall of England punches Ciryl Gane of France in the UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 321 event at Etihad Arena on October 25, 2025 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Tom Aspinall has a big challenge ahead of him no matter who wins at UFC White House. The historic June 14 event features a blockbuster co-main event with Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane battling for an interim heavyweight title. That championship opportunity was created due to Aspinall, the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight champion, currently sidelined as he recovers from injuries suffered in his disappointing title defense against Gane this past October that ended in a no-contest due to Gane poking Aspinall’s eyes. Aspinall is expected to meet Pereira or Gane in a title unification bout next and he sees the appeal of both matchups. “I want revenge, of course,” Aspinall told Fight Your Corner. “But also, there’s an argument to say that me and Pereira would be a bigger fight. I don’t know, they’re both big fights aren’t they? Pereira’s got a massive fanbase, massive, like globally.” With UFC White House just weeks away now, Pereira’s heavyweight move is close to becoming a reality. The Brazilian knockout artist has already won UFC titles at middleweight and light heavyweight, and should he defeat Gane for an interim belt, he will become the first UFC fighter ever to capture titles in three divisions. Aspinall doesn’t think it will be easy for Pereira, whose legendary power could be dulled in the UFC’s heaviest weight class. “First of all, he’s an absolute generational talent, Alex Pereira,” Aspinall said. “If he wins this fight, even if it’s an interim title, it’ll be the first person ever to win three different weights, which is unbelievable. He’s massive. I have no idea how he made middle, because he’s my height, maybe a little bit shorter than me, 6-4-ish, 6-5, massive weight cuts, and now he’s fighting at heavyweight. … He carries a lot of power at light heavy and middle, but he’s also fighting a lot smaller guys whose punch resistance is a lot less. So, in my opinion, a big factor of why he’s knocking these guys out is because he’s a lot bigger than them. “A guy like Ciryl Gane who’s used to taking punches off big, big heavyweights, like, he didn’t get hurt off Francis Ngannou for five rounds, which is one of the biggest punchers in the division. I don’t know if [Pereira’s] punch resistance will be as good at heavyweight.” In addition to the power and durability deficit Pereira might face on June 14, Aspinall wonders how he’ll deal with Gane likely having an advantage when it comes to agility and athleticism. “Also, Alex Pereira is very good when he fights light heavyweights or middleweights who don’t move a lot,” Aspinall said. “Ciryl Gane is a massive heavyweight who moves a lot. Moves really well, really, really fluid on his feet, in and out, judges the distance really well and stuff like that. So stylistically, I think it’s a good matchup for Gane. “That being said, Gane doesn’t like leg kicks. He doesn’t fare well against leg kicks. He’s a good kicker, but if someone kicks him, his leg kick defense isn’t great. Alex Pereira, unbelievable leg kickers. Like his calf kicks, have you seen the calf kicks he does? He slows people down. That’s how he sets up the left hook is he kicks them to the calf, stops the movement a little bit, and then comes in with the left hook.” Having shared the cage with Gane—however briefly—Aspinall is familiar with how tricky the former one-time interim champion can be and he didn’t hesitate to offer his prediction on the Pereira vs. Gane matchup based on his own experiences. “I would say Gane by points,” Aspinall said. “I think he’s just going to move too much for him and beat him on points.”

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 03: Alex Pereira of Brazil poses on the scale during the UFC 320 ceremonial weigh-in at MGM Grand Garden Arena on October 03, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Alex Pereira actually contemplated a move to heavyweight prior to his interim title fight against Ciryl Gane at the UFC White House card, but the timing couldn’t have been better for his transition as he attempts to become the first ever three-division champion in promotional history. After already capturing belts at light heavyweight and middleweight, Pereira was teasing his interest in fighting at heavyweight and it turns out there were talks about him making that move back in January when the UFC first debuted on Paramount. With heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall still out of action dealing with an eye injury, the UFC was anxious to hand out an interim title with Pereira involved in that fight. “Well, I think the right moment is now,” Pereira told Paramount about the timing for his move to heavyweight. “At certain points before but I don’t really remember when we could have moved up to heavyweight but it would have felt a bit forced. Not now. Now it’s happening very naturally, in a perfect fight. “This fight was supposed to happen earlier, at the first event of the year but for a few reasons it didn’t happen and now this has become a big moment.” When he first started packing on the pounds, Pereira not only became a heavyweight, but he very nearly reached the limit for the division at 265 pounds. Now that he’s almost through his training camp, the former two-division UFC champion has found the perfect sweet spot for his fight against Gane on June 14. “Around [242 pounds],” Pereira said about how much he’ll weigh on fight night. “Not too heavy, I was heavier before though. I got up to [258 pounds] and then I gradually started cutting back down.” In a crazy twist, Pereira revealed that what he expects to weigh for the UFC White House card is effectively where he started his cuts to get down to light heavyweight. “I was at [242 pounds], then I dropped to [205 pounds],” Pereira said. “Now doing the math is difficult.” While he’s never missed weight and Pereira has rarely even been afforded the extra one-pound allowance for non-title fights, he definitely felt the toll those cuts were taking on his body. Now that he’s at heavyweight, Pereira is much happier and his full focus can stay on getting ready for the fight against Gane rather than a potential battle with the scale. “It helps me a lot because of my diet. I don’t have that concern anymore,” Pereira said. “When I was a middleweight, it was much more complicated. About a month before the fight, I had to cut back heavily on food, maybe even feel a bit weaker. “The weight cut was pretty aggressive. Now I don’t have that concern anymore and for me, that’s very important.”

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Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will clash over the interim heavyweight title, while Aspinall holds the regular belt