Alex Pereira explains why he won’t wait for Tom Aspinall after UFC White House

Alex Pereira isn’t sure he will fight Tom Aspinall next, even if he becomes the interim heavyweight champion on Sunday.

Pereira is set to take on Ciryl Gane in the co-main event of the UFC White House event on Sunday for the interim heavyweight title. It’s an intriguing fight, and oddsmakers have it as a pure pick’em, showing people are torn on who will win.

However, if Pereira gets his hand raised, he will be a three-division UFC champion and would set up a massive fight against Aspinall. However, Pereira doesn’t think Aspinall will be ready to fight him, as the Brazilian thinks the heavyweight champion will still want more time off.

“I don’t think that Tom’s going to be ready,” Pereira said to TNT Fight Sports. “I don’t think he’s even training. He’s recovering from surgery and then training, and I’m a guy that I want to get ready, I want to fight somebody as soon as possible. I want to get another fight as soon as possible. I want to make sure I finish the year. Again, I’m 38 years old. I ain’t got time to lose, so I need to fight.”

Aspinall is dealing with the eye injury he sustained in his fight against Cyril Gane, where he was poked in the eye, which resulted in the fight being a no-contest.

Alex Pereira doesn’t care Ciryl Gane is training with former kickboxing foe

Although Pereira doubts Aspinall will fight him, the focus for now is on Gane.

Pereira knows Gane will be a tough out, as the Frenchman also brought in a former kickboxing foe to train with him. Yet, Alex Pereira doesn’t think that will matter.

“Ciryl Gane’s training with Vakhitov? It doesn’t make a difference,” Pereira said on UFC Countdown. “Kickboxing and MMA are different sports, and I’m not the same fighter I was when I fought Vakhitov. I’ve evolved a lot. Maybe he thinks the guy can give him some useful information, but he’s the one who’s going to be in there with me. If Artem Vakhitov is an honest guy, the most important thing he’ll say is, ‘Be careful with this guy. He’s f*cking tough.’”

Pereira enters UFC White House with a record of 13-3 and reclaimed the light heavyweight title last time out.

Do you think Alex Pereira will beat Ciryl Gane?