Alex Pereira UFC Contract: Seven Fights Left and Why Boxing Is Off the Table

Alex Pereira has seven fights left on his UFC contract, and his camp says that, together with his age, makes a move to boxing “kind of impossible” for now.

Alex Pereira Contract Key Facts

Pereira was asked whether he would ever box during an interview with Fred Talks Fighting in London, where he is cornering his longtime coach Plinio Cruz at a Misfits Boxing event this weekend. Pereira answered in Portuguese and Cruz interpreted. “Well, with seven fights left in his UFC contract at 39, it’s kind of impossible,” Cruz said, per Bloody Elbow. “But, he’s happy to be here with me.” Heavy published a slightly different translation of the same answer: “Well, we have seven fights left in his UFC contract. I’m 39, it’s kind of impossible.”

Where the Seven-Fight Number Comes From

In March, Pereira announced on The Ariel Helwani Show that he had signed a new eight-fight deal with the UFC, MMA News reported. He gave up the light heavyweight title as part of a move to heavyweight. “With this new deal that UFC gave to me, I don’t care about letting go of the belt,” he said.

He has fought once since then, so seven fights remain. Pereira gave the same number himself at a fan Q&A in Belgrade in August. “There are still many fights. I have seven fights on the contract,” he said, as translated by MiddleEasy.

Why Boxing Is Off the Table

In the London interview, the only reasons given were the length of the contract and Pereira’s age. Neither he nor Cruz mentioned money, exclusivity terms or Zuffa Boxing. Cruz also said the move is “kind of impossible,” which is not the same as Pereira ruling boxing out for good.

That is a shift from where Pereira stood a year ago. On the Connect Cast podcast in 2025, he said: “I am definitely going to box… It’s not about aiming for more money. I like a challenge. I want to be the best,” according to Sports Illustrated. SI also noted that Jake Paul had called him out and that heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk had shown interest.

Cruz’s own boxing match is what brought Pereira to London. Cruz faces Gary Olive in a heavyweight bout on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Copper Box Arena, streaming on DAZN, Sherdog reported. Olive stepped in after Chase DeMoor was injured.

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What’s Next for Pereira in the UFC

Pereira’s heavyweight debut was a loss. Ciryl Gane stopped him by TKO at 1:27 of the second round in their interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250 in June, CBS Sports reported.

He returns against Sergei Pavlovich in a five-round heavyweight co-main event at UFC 335 on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, according to UFC.com and MMA Junkie. Charles Oliveira defends the BMF title against Diego Lopes in the main event.

Pereira’s Career So Far

Pereira is 13-4 in MMA and 10-3 in the UFC. He won the middleweight title by stopping Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 and the light heavyweight title by knocking out Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295. He won the light heavyweight belt back with a first-round TKO of Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320 in October 2025. All three of his UFC losses came in title fights, against Adesanya, Ankalaev and Gane. Before MMA, he went 33-7 as a kickboxer and held GLORY titles in two divisions.

Alex Pereira’s UFC Title Fights

Every UFC title fight of his career, per his UFC.com athlete page.

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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Oct 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the MMA section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.