Michael Bisping has gone on record saying UFC 335 could be the last time fans see Alex Pereira inside the Octagon.

In a video on his YouTube channel, the former middleweight champion put the question in plain terms, asking whether this is “the end of Alex Pereira” and warning that if things do not go his way in Las Vegas, it would not surprise him to see the 39-year-old walk away.

Pereira is coming off a second-round TKO defeat to Ciryl Gane in June, his first fight at heavyweight, a loss he contested on the night by claiming illegal strikes. Another knockout, Bisping argues, and the arithmetic of a comeback starts to work against him.

“If he goes up against Pavlovich and he does lose, and there’s a real chance of that… Then where does he go from there? Because he wouldn’t be in line for a title shot any time soon, he wouldn’t just have to win one, he would have to win two or three, and does Alex Pereira want to do that? Does he want to be just a contender in the heavyweight division?”

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A middleweight body carrying a heavyweight problem

Bisping was blunt about the physical gap he sees in a division of natural big men.

“Pereira’s style is flat-footed. He’s not nice and light on his feet, he’s not spritely, he’s not overly agile. At heavyweight, the guys can take the bigger shots and can give the bigger shots, and they are naturally that size; they haven’t put the weight on by force.”

Sergei Pavlovich is one of the heavier punchers on that list. He has finished seven of his nine UFC wins by knockout, and he enters UFC 335 on a three-fight winning streak capped by a 39-second finish of Tallison Teixeira in May. The betting markets opened with the Russian as the favorite.

Pereira answers with an arrow

Pereira is not reading from the retirement script.

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After Dana White announced the booking, Pereira posted an AI-generated video on Instagram showing him firing an arrow at Pavlovich as the Russian waded through snow.

“See you soon,” the caption read.

Pavlovich replied on his own Instagram in the same clipped register.

“Back in action soon.”

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What the card looks like

The main event belongs to Charles Oliveira and Diego Lopes, who meet for the BMF title. On the undercard, Joe Pyfer and Bo Nickal are matched at middleweight.

Pereira holds UFC titles at middleweight and at light heavyweight, and a win over Pavlovich would be his loudest argument yet for a heavyweight shot. A loss, in Bisping’s reading, would narrow the road to one direction. The co-main event is scheduled for five rounds at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 12.

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