WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 14: Alex Pereira of Brazil prior to his UFC interim heavyweight championship fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn at the White House on June 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has his next assignment set.
As it turns out, “Poatan” will remain at heavyweight, with Pereira (13-4) taking on Russian Sergei Pavlovich (21-3) in the co-main event of UFC 335 in Las Vegas, NV this December.
Promotion officials announced the booking on Saturday. The event takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, December 12, 2026.
Pereira comes into the fight off a TKO loss to Ciryl Gane in his heavyweight debut. That fight, which took place at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House this past June, had been for an interim heavyweight title. With Tom Aspinall vacating his belt due to ongoing eye issues, Gane has since been promoted to undisputed champ.
Brazil’s Pereira, now 39, won the UFC’s middleweight title in 2022 then immediately dropped it in a pair of fights with old kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya. His quick ascent up the UFC ranks saw Pereira turn into one of the promotion’s biggest stars, and he’d soon jump to light heavyweight, winning the title there in just his second fight at 205 pounds.
Three title defenses followed before Pereira dropped the belt to Magomed Ankalaev, then immediately won it back. He vacated the light heavyweight championship prior to moving to heavyweight earlier this year.
Pavlovich has won three straight fights, most recently finishing Tallison Teixeira. In November 2023, he faced Tom Aspinall for an interim belt after Jon Jones pulled out of a fight with Stipe Miocic due to injury. Aspinall came away with the win in that encounter.