Step Seven: Beat The Poor Shmuck Who Is the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Instead Of Tom

Update: Backstage, Pereira told Megan Olivi he intends to take time to rest after defending his belt three times already this year and completing a particularly grueling training camp for UFC 307. This sounds like a perfect excuse to sit back and wait for the heavyweight division to produce a more beatable champion.

Without Jon Jones in the picture, the pickings at heavyweight will be so slim that the first fighter to challenge Aspinall’s eventual undisputed gold will likely be either a man he’s already beaten or a man who just lost a title shot two fights ago. This bodes well for Alex Pereira as far as his hopes for a belt in a third division are concerned.

Do I think Alexander Volkov or Ciryl Gane stand a chance against Tom Aspinall? Not really, no. But let’s face it, like other greats before him, a part of what has helped Alex Pereira’s MMA resume has been accruing favorable matchups. A realistic roadmap for him to realize three-division glory would have to include a lesser heavyweight than Aspinall. So, whether the Englishman slips on a banana peel, catches a cold, or comes down with a serious case of the yips, in my mind, he must relinquish his belt to either Volkov or Gane before Pereira gets a crack at it.

Would this make a heavyweight title for Pereira less impressive? Only if you found similar reasons to diminish his championships at middleweight and light heavyweight. Luckily for me, I’m not that boring. But if you are, even after becoming the UFC’s first three-division champion, Alex Pereira will likely have to complete one more step before being considered a combat sports GOAT.

Which is…