Alex Pereira will not return to light heavyweight after coming up short in his attempt to win the interim heavyweight title at the UFC White House card on June 14, and he\u2019s angling for a rematch with Ciryl Gane.<\/p>\n
\u201cPoatan\u201d was asked by Joe Rogan immediately after the fight whether or not he would stay at heavyweight or go back to 205 pounds, a division where he has reined as champion, but he didn\u2019t give an answer. That changed on Wednesday, when he told fellow UFC fighter Renato Moicano<\/a> that a decision has been made.<\/p>\n \u201c100 percent [staying at] heavyweight,\u201d Pereira said. \u201cHonestly, training went really well. A lot of people talk about the weight, but I\u2019ve always been a heavy guy. Some people say I \u2018Poatan wasn\u2019t prepared, he can\u2019t take a punch, he got dropped by a jab.\u2019 How can people be so stupid and only see the jab? Nobody says, \u2018Damn, he took a beating [and stayed in the fight].\u2019 Ciryl Gane was already a heavyweight, already used to that weight. [Say] \u2018After that jab landed, the guy took so many shots \u2014 punches to the back of the head, illegal strikes \u2014 and managed to get back up and keep trading with the guy.\u2019 Nobody sees that. They only talk about the jab. But what about all the punches I took?\u201d<\/p>\n Pereira weighed in at 251 pounds the morning before the White House bout, a whopping 46.5-pound gain compared to eight months prior, when he scored a first-round knockout over Magomed Ankalaev to reclaim the light heavyweight belt. \u201cPoatan\u201d was three pounds heavier than Gane on Saturday, but said he didn\u2019t feel tired after the opening round.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t tired,\u201d Pereira said. \u201cI got back to the corner and listened clearly to Glover [Teixeira] and Plinio [Cruz]. I didn\u2019t even sit on the stool. I was relaxed. I was feeling good. You know why? Because my strategy wasn\u2019t to expend a lot of energy or throw a lot of strikes. It was to use the first round to make my reads and then start picking up the pace. But unfortunately, I got hit. Usually when I get hit, I pull my head back, but I need to have my feet planted on the ground to do that. When you\u2019re stepping, you can\u2019t do it. I tried to step in a little more so I could land the heavier shots, but there wasn\u2019t enough time. The guy landed the jab and then took advantage of the situation [to land illegal strikes], and the referee allowed it.\u201d<\/p>\n