Alex Pereira Advises Rakic on Heavyweight Move

Alex Pereira has offered a concise piece of advice shaped by his own move from light heavyweight to heavyweight. Speaking during a fan Q&A before the ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC Belgrade, Pereira addressed Aleksandar Rakic’s decision to compete at heavyweight after the Austrian weighed 237.5 pounds on Friday morning. Pereira’s message centered on the physical adjustment required for the new division rather than a wholesale change to preparation. The former light heavyweight explained that training remains the same, but the body and its weight become the defining consideration when a fighter steps up.

The comments arrive after Alex Pereira completed his own transition to heavyweight in June, when he stepped on the scales at 251 pounds. Pereira had previously competed at 185 pounds before his time at light heavyweight and then his heavyweight move. Questions were raised about whether he had added too much weight while preparing for an interim title fight, including comments from Jon Jones. Pereira did not frame his answer to Rakic as a detailed blueprint or prediction for the Belgrade bout. Instead, he pointed to the importance of allowing the body to move naturally in weight while continuing the work already done in training. That distinction gives his remarks a direct connection to Rakic’s immediate change in weight class.

Alex Pereira identifies the key adjustment

Alex Pereira said the challenge of moving to heavyweight is primarily about carrying the right weight. “Moving up in that division, it’s really the weight because the training’s the same and my body naturally moved up in weight and you just kind of keep going,” Pereira said during the Q&A posted by Fight 4 Yours. His answer was brief, but it addressed the precise issue surrounding Rakic’s arrival at heavyweight: not simply entering a new division, but doing so at a body weight that can be sustained alongside familiar training.

For Alex Pereira, the context is especially relevant because his own heavyweight debut did not go to plan, according to the supplied report. That setback does not alter the specific point he made in Belgrade. His advice focused on the process of adapting physically, not on offering a guarantee about a result. Rakic, meanwhile, entered the weigh-in at 237.5 pounds, 32.5 pounds heavier than in his most recent outing. The report noted that Rakic had suffered four consecutive losses at 205 pounds before choosing to move up. The numbers show two different heavyweight entries: Pereira’s June scale reading was 251 pounds, while Rakic arrived below 240 pounds for his scheduled appearance in Serbia.

Pereira’s experience provides context

Alex Pereira’s words are notable because they come from a fighter who has already made the same broad divisional jump. He was not discussing an abstract training idea; he was describing the part of the move that he believes matters most. The available information does not establish how Rakic prepared, how long he spent adding weight, or whether Pereira’s approach will suit another fighter. It does establish that Pereira sees natural weight gain as more important than changing the training itself. Rakic may have little time to apply any fresh advice before his August 1 appearance, but his 237.5-pound weigh-in places the discussion in a clear and current setting at UFC Belgrade.

• Alex Pereira weighed 251 pounds in June while completing his move to heavyweight.
• Aleksandar Rakic weighed 237.5 pounds at Friday morning’s UFC Belgrade weigh-ins, 32.5 pounds above his most recent outing.

Alex Pereira’s advice to Rakic was uncomplicated: the decisive adjustment in a heavyweight move is the weight, while training remains familiar. Pereira’s own 251-pound transition and Rakic’s 237.5-pound Belgrade weigh-in give that message concrete context. Rather than claiming to know how Rakic’s debut will unfold, Pereira described the physical reality he encountered when he moved beyond light heavyweight.

Sources: Bloody Elbow