Alex Pereira leaving heavyweight with UFC 335 loss to Sergei Pavlovich — ‘I’m not going to keep trying’

Former UFC light heavyweight and middleweight champion Alex Pereira, now 39, suffered a loss to Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 in Las Vegas in December, leading him to announce he will leave the heavyweight division. Pereira stated 'I'm not going to keep trying' at heavyweight after the defeat. The Brazilian fighter had previously lost to Ciryl Gane at heavyweight, which he attributed to illegal blows, before this second unsuccessful attempt in the division.