Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira arrived in the UFC in November 2021.  In his fourth fight, the Brazilian was fighting former kickboxing foe Israel Adesanya for the 185-pound championship.  He stopped Adesanya late in the final round to capture the title.  

Adesanya got revenge in the rematch and Pereira set his sights on the 205-pound weight class.  In his seventh octagon appearance, Pereira won the light heavyweight title by stopping former champion Jiri Prochazka in the second round at UFC 295.  At UFC 300 on Saturday, Pereira knocked out former titleholder Jamahal Hill in the first round.  After the win, Pereira indicated that he'd like to move up to the heavyweight division for at least one fight.  It would be the third weight class he's fought in since his UFC arrival.  

"I want to continue defending this belt.  I talked a lot about fighting in Brazil if I won this fight.  I'm not hurt.  Nothing happened.  I know there needs to be a lot of promotion behind a fight but I want to have a fight at heavyweight," Pereira said following his UFC 300 knockout win.  

UFC CEO Dana White was not sold on Pereira's desire to compete in the heavyweight division.  He didn't completely shut the idea down, but made it clear that he believes Pereira should stay in the light heavyweight division.  

"When you think about him moving up to heavyweight, you've got [Jon] Jones.  You've got [Tom] Aspinall.  The list goes on and in in that heavyweight division," White said during the UFC 300 Post-Fight Press Conference.  

"The heavyweight division is nasty.  I don't know if that's the right move for him," White continued.  "He looked damn good in the division he's in.  I think you might want to stick around there for a minute.  But I don't know.  These are all things we'll talk about for the next 15 Tuesdays, so we'll get it forged out."