Alex Pereira wants to be a three-sport world champion.

A former two-division Glory kickboxing champion, Pereira transitioned to MMA and then joined the UFC in 2021, where he quickly put together one of the most accomplished careers in UFC history. A former middleweight champion and the reigning light heavyweight king, “Poatan” has already accomplished more than most fighters could dream of, but he’s not ready to stop there. Because aside from his ambition to bump up and challenge for the heavyweight title, Pereira also hopes to one day compete inside the boxing ring as well.

“I don’t know, I think anything is possible. It’s something I can’t plan, but it is something I would really like to do.”

“That’s something that I really want,” Pereira told the Jaxxon Podcast via a Portuguese translator. “I’m under contract with the UFC. We know [Conor] McGregor did it. I don’t know how I would, but someday I would really like to do it.”

Pereira has some experience with boxing already, making his professional debut back in 2017 and winning by third-round TKO. But Poatan isn’t talking about just dipping his toe in the water, he wants to jump right into the deep end of the pool.

“I’m the champ. I would like to fight the champ,” Pereira said. “So Oleksandr Usyk ...

“I think it’s a very good fight. I love boxing. I see some people talking, ‘Oh, if it were pure boxing he would be lost’. Man, when you talk pure boxing, I feel great. I think I could fight these guys out there. I’ve already done some sparring with experienced guys, Plinio [Cruz, his coach] knows it, and they’re winning everything there.”

The 2012 Olympic gold medalist boxer at heavyweight, Usyk is one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world at the moment and moving up the ranks of all-time greats following his pair of wins over Tyson Fury in 2024. That suggests this would be a monumentally difficult task, but Pereira’s coach has full faith in his ability.

“Me, personally, I’ve put him already to spar some world-class, top-10 heavyweight boxers,” Plinio Cruz added. “Guys with names, real good names that I’m not going to mention, but he did really good, so I think he could do good. I believe in him.”

Pereira is scheduled to make the fourth defense of his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 313 on March 8.