{
  "id": 13110259,
  "title": "Alex Pereira’s coach believes Sergei Pavlovich is ‘a much better matchup’ than Ciryl Gane",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/alex-pereiras-coach-believes-sergei-pavlovich-is-a-much-better",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-09T12:04:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/alex-pereira-coach-believes-sergei-120403813.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On June 29, 2024, Alex Pereira faced off against former light heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250. Pereira's loss to Gane highlighted the challenge of moving up to heavyweight, as Gane decisively knocked Pereira out early in the fight. However, there is little doubt that Pereira faces even greater difficulties in heavy weight class. Now, Pereira will return to action on December 12, 2024, at UFC 335 for a five-round co-main event against heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich. While heavyweights generally pack a harder punch, Pereira's coach, Glover Teixeira, believes this matchup with Pavlovich is more favorable for his fighter. Teixeira points out that Pavlovich tends to stay more grounded compared to Gane's movement, which could prove to be a disadvantage for Pereira in terms of absorbing heavy blows. Teixeira remains confident that Pereira's primary goal remains to secure his third title, and he does not anticipate a return to the middleweight or light heavyweight divisions.",
  "summary": "Everyone was very excited when Alex Pereira moved up to heavyweight to challenge for a third title at UFC Freedom 250. After his controversial loss to Ciryl Gane, though, the enormity of that task become much more apparent. Gane cracked Pereira badly early in their fight, setting up the fight finishing sequence where “Poatan” insists […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}