“Well, we have seven fights left on [my] UFC contract. I’m 39, it’s kind of impossible,” he said. “But [I’m] happy to be here with [Plinio].” Pressed on whether he might box once that contract is fulfilled, his answer was brief: “No, I’m fine.”
The setting supplied the irony. Pereira is in London not to fight but to corner Cruz, the coach who gave him his jiu-jitsu black belt and has guided his MMA career, as Cruz challenges Gary Olive for the Misfits Boxing heavyweight title at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday. For one weekend the roles reverse: the student works the corner while the coach takes the punches in the ring Pereira just ruled out for himself.
The numbers behind the decision are straightforward. In March, Pereira announced on The Ariel Helwani Show that he had signed a new eight-fight deal with the UFC, a contract generous enough that he vacated the light heavyweight title he had reclaimed at UFC 320 to pursue a third divisional championship at heavyweight. “With this new deal that UFC gave to me, I don’t care about letting go of the belt,” he said at the time. He has fought once since, which leaves seven, the same figure he gave fans at a Q&A in Belgrade in August. At 39, seven fights realistically covers the rest of his competitive career, and neither he nor Cruz mentioned money, exclusivity terms or Zuffa Boxing as factors.
It is a notable shift for a fighter whose roots run deep in the sport he is closing the door on. Before he became a two-division Glory kickboxing champion, Pereira built an amateur boxing record that reportedly ran to 25 wins, all by knockout, against three losses, and the idea of a professional boxing match has followed him through his MMA rise, including Oleksandr Usyk’s publicly expressed interest in a show fight in early 2025. “Kind of impossible” is not quite “never,” but his “no, I’m fine” leaves little room for speculation.
His full focus now belongs to December 12. Pereira meets Sergei Pavlovich in a five-round heavyweight co-main event at UFC 335 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, his second fight at heavyweight and his first since his bid for a third UFC title fell short. At the White House card in June, Ciryl Gane stopped him in the second round of their interim heavyweight championship fight, a result Pereira has blamed on referee Herb Dean, arguing that shots to the back of his head should have been stopped. Gane has since been elevated after Tom Aspinall vacated the undisputed title, which means a convincing win over Pavlovich could put Pereira straight back into the championship conversation, and quite possibly back across from Gane.
The matchup itself is a classic heavyweight puzzle. Pavlovich carries one of the division’s heaviest right hands and a habit of ending fights early, which tests Pereira’s timing and distance management against a man who rarely needs many attempts. Chris Weidman, who has seen Pereira’s power from close range, laid out the path on his Deep Waters podcast: use the kicks, stay out of boxing range early, and cut down Pavlovich’s legs before the right hand comes into play. The Meta UFC Rankings frame the stakes neatly, with Pereira listed No. 3 at heavyweight and Pavlovich No. 2, while the Brazilian still sits No. 1 on the light heavyweight board he left behind.
Boxing, then, can wait, quite possibly forever. Pereira’s remaining ambitions are measured in UFC belts, and the next one runs through Las Vegas in December.
