Pereira Admits Hokit Would've Been Easier Than Pavlovich at UFC 335

Alex Pereira isn't pretending his next assignment is the soft landing he wanted. Fresh off a second-round TKO loss to Ciryl Gane, the former two-division champ says he was initially told he'd either run it back for the belt against Gane or get Josh Hokit — and then neither happened. What he got instead was Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335, a heavyweight who's finished 16 of his 21 wins by knockout.

Pereira, now 13-4 with 11 KOs of his own, was candid about the math. He flat-out admitted that Hokit — undefeated at 10-0 but still ranked #4 at heavyweight — would have been a far gentler way to rebuild after a loss. Pavlovich, he conceded, is the more dangerous name on paper. The difference between a clean reset and a live-wire fight.

What Upset Him

The frustration, by his own account, came from the whiplash. Pereira said he was dangled two paths — a title shot against Gane or a matchup with Hokit — and watched both evaporate before landing on Pavlovich. He added that he eventually sat down with UFC exec Hunter Campbell, talked it through, and smoothed things over.

You can see why the booking stings. Pereira was the one Gane knocked out in Round 2 to take the strap, and the obvious revenge angle would have been the Frenchman. Gane, instead, is defending against Hokit at UFC 334 — the exact opponent Pereira wanted. The promotion essentially handed the easier assignment to the man who just beat him.

The Pavlovich Problem

On tape, though, Pereira says he's come around. He framed Pavlovich as a tough out but, looking at it technically, a matchup that actually suits him. That's not nothing coming from a striker of Pereira's pedigree — but Pavlovich is a different animal than most. His last win was a first-round stoppage of Tallison Teixeira, and his entire resume reads as a heavyweight who ends nights early.

So Pereira walks into UFC 335 off a loss, moved up in weight, facing a #3-ranked finisher instead of the gimme he was promised. He says he's fine with it now. Whether that holds up once Pavlovich's right hand is in the room is a separate question entirely.