UFC champ Alex Pereira might be trading the Octagon for the boxing ring! After UFC president Dana White recently confirmed that he’s finally diving into boxing promotion in 2025, Pereira, known for his elite striking skills, expressed interest in stepping into the squared circle with the company backing him.
With White’s support, Pereira could make waves in the boxing world and bring even more crossover excitement to combat sports. The champion recently spoke to ‘The Schmo’, where he was asked if he would be interested in stepping into the world of boxing now that White has confirmed his plans.
The UFC light heavyweight champion’s eyes lit up as he talked about expressing his will with bigger gloves some day. ‘Poatan’ believes that this partnership with boxing will allow many mixed martial artists to go toe to toe with boxers.
“Absolutely, I will express my will to go boxing one day. I think this partnership of the UFC going into boxing is a very good thing for the sport. Many fighters say that MMA fighters can not go toe-to-toe with boxers, I believe that not only me but many other fighters could do that too.”
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Pereira actually has an offer to box. Following his win over BKFC champion Mike ‘The Platinum’ Perry, Jake Paul had issued a challenge to ‘Poatan’ to face him in a boxing ring. Although, given the animosity between Paul and White, this seemed like a rather flaky proposition, aimed to get a rise out of the UFC boss at best.
But that doesn’t mean, White wouldn’t be interested in exploring the option if the plot was right for him.
The UFC boss has wanted to enter the world of boxing, since thee days of Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor in 2018. However, he felt that every time he dealt with one of the promoters in the space he changed his mind.
This time around however, it appears as though the UFC head honcho is stepping into the sport in partnership with Turki Alalshikh. Now, only time will tell how this venture works out for both White and the UFC fighters.
White’s boxing adventure to increase fighter pay?
Probably NO!
Ever since McGregor took on Floyd Mayweather in 2018 and made over $100 million, boxing mega fights has been seen as the promised land for many UFC fighters. A number of fighters since then have expressed their interest in crossover fights with the big names in boxing with a few having already crossed over, at least for a time.
Unfortunately for them, White was never into the idea and was adamant that ‘The Notorious’ vs Mayweather was a one and done type deal.
However, now that he is getting into boxing promotion himself, it could make it easier for UFC fighters to take on the big names in boxing.
That said, White’s problem with boxing has been the way money moves around in the sport; he’s often and very publicly complained about how it was ruining the sport since the matchmakers couldn’t make the best fights.
Now, boxers have unions, which allows them to the lion’s share of the payday, as they should since they are the ones risking their lives and livelihoods in pursuit of entertaining the fans.
This is precisely why even UFC champions like Sean O’Malley have tried to pick beefs with boxers and have challenged them to matches. It would simply be life changing money, something they can only earn in the UFC if Conor McGregor was around anymore.
So, are the fighters going to be paid more? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
