Pereira vs. Pavlovich Set as Five-Round UFC 335 Co-Main Event
Event: UFC 335 — December 12, 2026, Las Vegas, Nevada
Image credit: UFC.com
Alex Pereira's heavyweight experiment continues — and his next test is the division's most dangerous puncher. UFC CEO Dana White confirmed during UFC 332 that Pereira will face Sergei Pavlovich in a five-round co-main event at UFC 335 on December 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Bloody Elbow, MMA News)
Pereira (13-4-0) is 39, a former middleweight and light heavyweight champion chasing history as the first three-division UFC champion. That chase hit a wall in June, when Ciryl Gane stopped him in the second round of his heavyweight debut at UFC Freedom 250 — the White House card. Pereira protested the stoppage, saying Gane landed blows to the back of his head, and demanded an immediate rematch. He did not get it: Gane was promoted to undisputed champion after Tom Aspinall vacated the belt and is booked to defend against Josh Hokit at UFC 334 on November 14. (Heavy, Cageside Press)
Pavlovich (21-3-0) is the worst possible rebound opponent — or the best possible statement, depending on how you see it. The 34-year-old Russian is ranked No. 2 at heavyweight, one spot ahead of Pereira, and arrives on a three-fight win streak capped by a 39-second knockout of Tallison Teixeira in May. (MMA News)
A combined 15 knockouts in 19 recorded wins
The numbers say this fight does not go the distance. Across their UFC-recorded bouts in our database, 15 of their combined 19 wins ended by KO/TKO.
Pereira — "Poatan" — is 10-3 in his recorded run, with 8 of those 10 wins by knockout. At 6'4" with a 79-inch reach, fighting orthodox, he remains one of the most feared single-shot strikers in the sport. The concern is the other side of his last fight: Gane outlanded him 54-12 in significant strikes before the second-round finish. Against Pavlovich, there is no room for a slow start.
Pavlovich is the bigger man in every dimension that matters at heavyweight: 6'3", 257 pounds, an 84-inch reach, fighting southpaw. He is 9-3 in his recorded run with 7 of 9 wins by KO/TKO. His recent form is the mirror image of Pereira's — three straight wins (Teixeira, Waldo Cortes-Acosta, Jairzinho Rozenstruik) after back-to-back losses. The last man to knock him out was Tom Aspinall in November 2023, in 69 seconds.
The stakes
The UFC has not called this a title eliminator. But with Gane vs. Hokit deciding the undisputed belt a month earlier, the winner of Pereira-Pavlovich will be impossible to ignore when the champion starts looking for a challenger. (MMA News)
The market agrees this is close — Pavlovich opened as the betting favorite. (MMA Fighting)
UFC 335 is shaping up as the year's final statement card: Oliveira vs. Lopes for the BMF title headlines, with Brandon Moreno vs. Charles Johnson and Joe Pyfer vs. Bo Nickal also confirmed. (Fight Sports)
The tale of the tape: Alex Pereira vs Sergei Pavlovich.
Fight data compiled from public statistical sources (ufcstats.com) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). OctagonStats is an independent database, not affiliated with UFC / TKO Group.