{"id":729096,"date":"2026-06-11T06:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T06:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/729096\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T06:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T06:42:18","slug":"alex-pereiras-heavyweight-photo-draws-skepticism-before-gane-bout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/729096\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Pereira&#8217;s Heavyweight Photo Draws Skepticism Before Gane Bout"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Pereira has checked in at 258 pounds for his <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/division\/heavyweight\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">heavyweight<\/a> debut against Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 this Sunday, and fans are not impressed with how the former two-division champion got there.<\/p>\n<p>According to ESPN, Pereira tipped the scales at 258 during fight week for the historic White House event in Washington, D.C. The Brazilian&#8217;s official UFC heavyweight portrait has now surfaced alongside his previous <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/division\/middleweight\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">middleweight<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/division\/light-heavyweight\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">light heavyweight<\/a> photos, revealing a 73-pound jump from his original 185-pound fighting weight. MMA Mania reported that the side-by-side comparison sparked immediate criticism from fight fans who believe the added bulk looks more like fat than functional muscle.<\/p>\n<p>Fans Question Pereira&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/division\/heavyweight\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Heavyweight<\/a> Build Ahead of Gane Showdown<\/p>\n<p>Social media reaction to Pereira&#8217;s new frame has been harsh. One commenter wrote that the heavyweight version of Pereira is &#8220;just out of shape Alex,&#8221; while another suggested he &#8220;ballooned up by eating everything in sight.&#8221; Multiple fans predicted that Gane, a multiple-time heavyweight title challenger with superior athleticism, will dominate the bout. &#8220;Ciryl Gane is going to mop the floor with this guy,&#8221; one fan wrote, per the MMA Mania report.<\/p>\n<p>Pereira is attempting to become the first fighter in UFC history to win titles in three separate weight classes. He previously held the <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/division\/middleweight\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">middleweight<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/division\/light-heavyweight\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">light heavyweight<\/a> straps before moving up to challenge Gane on the South Lawn to celebrate America&#8217;s 250th anniversary. The transformation drew comparisons to Jon Jones, who faced similar mockery when his heavyweight portrait first appeared online.<\/p>\n<p>Official weigh-ins for UFC Freedom 250 take place Friday in Washington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sources-heading\">Reported via:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-white-house-2026-fight-card-start-time-full-results-dana-white-conor-mcgregor-cbs-mma\/449467\/pic-alex-pereiras-ufc-freedom-250-side-by-side-heavyweight-transformation-has-ciryl-gane-fans-not-worried-at-all\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MMA Mania<\/a> \u2014 Pic: Alex Pereira\u2019s UFC Freedom 250 side-by-side Heavyweight transformation has Ciryl Gane fans not worried at all<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Pereira has checked in at 258 pounds for his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-729096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}