Alex Pereira vs. Oleksandr Usyk amps up due to growing Saudi GEA-UFC partnership: “I believe this fight can happen…”

UFC 205-pound champion Alex Pereira thinks boxing Oleksandr Usyk might be possible, with Dana White's Saudi GEA involvement on the rise.

Alex Pereira vs. Oleksandr Usyk heats up with Dana White's Saudi GEA involvement (Source: X/IMAGO)

Could Alex Pereira be the next UFC fighter to have a crossover boxing bout. There are a lot of moving parts that would have to fall into place. Nevertheless, a fight with Oleksandr Usyk is something “Poatan” is certainly interested in. With CEO Dana White‘s newfound kinship with Saudi GEA Riyadh Season, it might just happen.

Boxing’s heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk recently also teased that his legacy retirement bout could be a “show fight” against Alex Pereira. Usyk is more of a cruiserweight than a true heavyweight. There’s also plenty of footage of Pereira chopping it out with high-level boxers; it’s not the same thing though. Nevertheless, Poatan wants to face the unstoppable Ukrainian in boxing.

I had already said that before, right, that I would really like to have a boxing match, …And they asked me who it would be. I said, ‘Well, I am champion right so it would have to be a champion, and [Usyk] is the champion. And now, he gave interview and said my name, so it is something that I want…He also wants.
Alex Pereira to Mark Bouris at the exclusive VIP AOA Global event at the ICC Sydney Grand Ballroom

“Poatan” dabbled as a 1-0 cruiserweight amateur boxer, with a TKO win with Marcelo de Souza Cruz. It ultimately would boil down to what UFC wants for Pereira, still under contract. White is very prone to Saudi backing after the historic UFC on ABC 6: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov at Riyadh.

Saudi GEA boxing chief Turki Alalshikh also helped fund his $2.3 billion dream for the rebranded Riyadh Season Noche UFC and other Fight Night grinds. Reportedly, White and parent company TKO are also warming up to boxing ventures with the illustrious Saudi backing.

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Unified King Oleksandr Usyk eyes 'show fight' with Alex Pereira… 😱

Usyk's road to retirement…BOOK IT 📝 pic.twitter.com/13YyFTASou
— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) February 13, 2025

Alalshikh is allegedly in talks to formulate a multi-division Boxing League; after their Fight Night success; he tapped White for it. Oleksandr Usyk banked $122 million in 2024 fighting for Alalshikh and his Saudi GEA. “Poatan” sees signs that one day this might happen; before that, he has other assignments though.

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Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) defends the light heavyweight championship against Magomed Ankalaev on March 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ankalaev marks a whole new different ball game for Alex Pereira, who already has holes in his ground game. The UFC 313 PPV headliner spot could be different.

UFC's Alex Pereira has work to do before he can trade leather in boxing — UFC’s Alex Pereira has work to do before he can trade leather in boxing (Source: X)

Pereira recently spent time in Australia, cornering Sean Strickland for his UFC 312 middleweight title shot. Daniel Cormier remains concerned about Alex Pereira’s UFC 313 training camp. This is mainly due to Poatan not arriving early in Las Vegas to accumulate to the climate.

This dude was seen in Australia last week still, and he was shaking the hand of Drake as Drake went on stage for his concert, …One: Drake constantly loses millions of dollars betting on people, so you kind of don’t want Drake to bet on you…But what is Pereira still doing in Australia? He fights in two weeks! Ankalaev’s already here, he’s in Vegas, I ran into him at the UFC PI last week. He is honestly so locked in…
Daniel Cormier via ‘ Good Guy / Bad Guy’ Podcast (@ESPNMMA) for ESPN2/ ESPNPodcenter

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Cormier also touched on the fact that Ankalaev vowed not to wrestle Pereira. But the safe bet is he goes to secure takedowns. Hence, ‘DC’ urged that coach Glover Teixeira should be doing most of the work with “Poatan” right now, queueing in wrestling pointers. As such, the training camp details of Pereira remains a cause of concern for Cormier.

Tags: Alex Pereira Oleksandr Usyk

#About the Author

Dibaas.M

(1617 Articles Published)

Dibaas is an avid combat sports enthusiast and an MMA writer at FirstSportz. His knack of the sport started early, ranging as far back as UFC 81: Breaking Point; the first match watched. Barring a few years in the middle, he got back in the fold watching the rise of the likes of Conor McGregor, Kamaru Usman, and others... He also happens to be in the habit of writing, wherein his interests collide. He loves to report on anything and everything within the combat sports bubble. He has helped in freelance social redesign and rebranding for a few Instagram businesses, as well as digital/manual art restoration. He has a year of experience as Community service Associate, 4+ years of experience as a freelance content writer, and a year of experience in target-oriented writing. Currently, he delves into topics of MMA, Boxing, and Kickboxing to the best of his ability and share it with a dedicated audience.

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Alex Pereira vs. Oleksandr Usyk amps up due to growing Saudi GEA-UFC partnership: “I believe this fight can happen…”

Daniel Cormier worried about ‘toughest fight of his reign’ as Alex Pereira preps for UFC 313 title scrap

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