Alex Pereira Talks Freedom 250 at the White House, EA Sports UFC 6 Cover and More in B/R Interview

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira vacated his title for the chance to make history at the UFC Freedom 250 event next month.

Pereira will be going up against Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight championship in the co-main event of the June 14 fight card. If he's victorious, he would be the first fighter in UFC history to win a title in three different divisions, as he also once held the middleweight title.

While many would argue that becoming a three-division champion would officially make Pereira the GOAT, the 38-year-old isn't getting too far ahead of himself, as he feels he still has more fights left in him before his status in UFC history is solidified.

"Sometimes I'll do something important, and they'll be like, 'Oh, Alex is the best, oh, he's not the best,' so I just keep doing my part. Keep fighting, and let the people speak," Pereira told Bleacher Report through an interpreter. "I don't know if I consider myself [the GOAT], I don't know."

Known for his cool, calm and collected demeanor, Pereira is bringing that same approach to his move up to the heavyweight division. The man who usually answers "Chama," slang for "fire" or "let's go" in Portuguese, opened up about his training regimen in his home country of Brazil.

"Training's been very good, we spent a month in Sobrália, Glover Teixeira's town. Training there was very nice, and hard, too. There's this big mountain that has a cross on the top called Cruzeiro, climbing there a few times a week was really hard," Pereira said. "So, training was really good, and it's been good also to take a little pause in between, refresh a little bit, and now we're gearing up for the fight."

That "pause" included the recent announcement that Pereira will be the cover athlete for the Standard Edition of EA Sports UFC 6, which will be released on June 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Former UFC BMF champion Max Holloway will be on the cover of the Ultimate Edition.

For "Poatan," being on the cover of the latest installment of the famed video game series made him think of his late older brother, who died from drug-related complications at the age of 18.

"It means a lot to me, it's something very special. Also, because I lost a brother when I was younger, and my brother used to love video games, love to play in the arcades," Pereira said, adding that their favorite games were Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. "I think if he was here right now, to see me on the cover of the video game, how cool that would be. I think about that all the time, I know how special that would be."

Pereira was required to weigh in at 205 pounds for light heavyweight title fights, and it's now a bigger surprise that he started his UFC career in the middleweight division, where he weighed in at 185 pounds. He said he's now walking around at a massive 113 kilograms, or 249 pounds, and he plans to weigh in at 242 pounds (110 kg) for his fight against Gane.

The bulking process has been an easy experience for Pereira, as he was able to expand his diet over the past few months before returning to a clean nutrition program ahead of next month's fight.

"It's been very natural, nothing special, like 'I had to eat this much to bulk this much.' We're in Brazil, the food in the country of Brazil, especially in the mountains and farms, is special, it's good," Pereira said. "So we bulked up, we ate good over there, but nothing specific. Now, just eating a little leaner, a little cleaner. Now that we have a full program, our stuff is for heavyweights, so just training hard and eating good."

The winner of the interim heavyweight title fight will be in line for a title unification fight against UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who has been sidelined since sustaining multiple eye pokes in his fight against Gane in October and undergoing multiple procedures. Pereira said he would welcome the opportunity to face Aspinall, but he's not planning on slowing down his career to wait for his recovery.

"I'm focused on this fight right now, I don't know what happens next. I'm a guy who likes to fight frequently, we don't know if he'll be ready or not by the next time I want to fight," Pereira said of Aspinall. "But if he's in, I'm ready to fight anybody."

Before his fight against Gane was scheduled, Pereira's rumored opponent for the Freedom 250 card was UFC legend Jon Jones, who remains under contract with the company after retiring and vacating the heavyweight title nearly a year ago. Pereira left the door open for a future matchup against Jones and offered a respectful prediction of how their fight would play out.

"I think it would be a fight that would be very steady on both sides. Both of us are older, experienced," he said. "I think it would be a fight that everyone would like to see."

Another fighter who has worked his way into Pereira's orbit is Josh Hokit, who has established himself as the new loudmouth of the heavyweight division with his antics on the microphone. Hokit took aim at Pereira during the Freedom 250 press conference earlier this month, but Pereira brushed him off at the time and still won't give him the attention he's seeking.

"I don't have too much to say. I think that guy is looking for clout, he wants to put his name out there," Pereira said of Hokit. "Earlier in the day we were doing media and we bumped into each other, and he didn't do nothing. Why didn't he do something there when he saw me first? He just wants to do it when people are around who can hold us back."

Pereira added that he wasn't moved by any of Hokit's barbs as they were being translated. UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria came to his defense at the press conference and nearly came to blows with Hokit, and Pereira said the 155-pound champ would hold his own against the heavyweight disruptor.

"First of all, Topuria is a bad man. You see everything he does the way that he does, he can never be counted out," Pereira said. "In that moment, things were being translated by the guys in the UFC, and I couldn't really understand. So, I think Topuria realized that the message wasn't going to me, and he felt bad, so he stood up for a friend and tried to help, which is respectful. He's a great guy."

There's a chance that Pereira and Hokit will get to settle their differences in the Octagon at some point down the line. While Pereira is set to turn 39 in July, he reiterated that he will continue fighting as long as he's physically able to, and he will be ready for any challenges that come as he winds down his UFC career.

"I don't know, I have to listen to my body. I want to keep fighting, but at this age, you don't know with injuries and stuff like that. Sometimes it's like, 'I want to do eight fights,' but then you get a big injury, so I don't know," Pereira said. "But as long as it's just the wear and tear from the fights and my body is healthy, I'll finish this contract and sign another one after."