Alex Pereira has drawn a line in the sand. The former light heavyweight and middleweight champion says that if he comes up short against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on December 12, he is done chasing heavyweight gold and heading back down to 205 pounds.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Pereira laid out his thinking plainly. 'Pavlovich is a dangerous guy. I've always said this, I want to win, but I can lose too. If I lose, I'm not going to stay at heavyweight. Everyone knows I'm lighter than all those heavyweights. So I'm not going to keep trying to match their strength when I could do something else and be better off.'

The comments come amid broader frustration. Pereira admitted fighting Hokit would have been much easier for him than his current assignment against Pavlovich.

That assignment is no gimme. Pavlovich sits at number three in the heavyweight rankings and is a minus 205 favorite over Pereira, who checks in at plus 178. Our own model gives Pereira a 40 percent chance, with Pavlovich favored at 60 percent. Pereira, ranked number three at light heavyweight, is still working back from a loss to Gane in his most recent outing, a second round knockout at 1:27. His Elo sits at 1571 across ten tracked bouts, compared to Pavlovich's 1543 over seven.

Bloody Elbow also reported that a winless heavyweight run would push Pereira toward retirement rather than sticking around as what he called a stepping stone for younger prospects. The news has already stirred discussion over on r/MMA, where fans are weighing in on his plan.