Are we ready to see more champion vs. champion fights?

The vast majority of the community seems to say no. The “superfight era” came and went with double champions like Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo, and Amanda Nunes. More recent attempts saw featherweight’s Alexander Volkanovski try to make history against Islam Makhachev but came up short in both efforts last year. Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira now finds himself with a world of possibilities after speedrunning his way to two-division champion status, albeit not simultaneously like the others.

Pereira, 37, surprised the MMA world this week by continuing to tease a pursuit of the middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis. The latter recently successfully defended his title for the first time with a fourth-round face crank against Pereira’s old rival Israel Adesanya last month. That win was the initial launching point for “Poatan” to tease a 185-pound return.

Amongst those anti-middleweight Pereira is one of his fellow former divisional champions Michael Bisping, who understands what the motive could be behind such a matchup. That doesn't make him a fan of the idea, though.

“I don’t like it. Simple as that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Maybe Alex Pereira’s just messing around because even though he’s a serious son of a b*tch, he’s got a sense of humor. He’s very stoic, but I’m telling you, he’s a sarcastic guy and I get it. Maybe he’s trolling, but maybe he’s not. Maybe he’s trying to make the most money he can, take on the toughest opponents, and retire with millions and millions and millions of dollars in the bank. He’s probably going to do that anyway, but still.”

The timing of Pereira’s tease is odd as he’s got his next defense lined up against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 on Oct. 5. After that, there’s a ready and waiting Magomed Ankalaev in — or atop — the contender line, assuming he can get through Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 at the end of October.

At a glance, it’s an oversight on the Brazilian striker’s part, which Bisping finds a risky game to play.

“He’s got people to fight already,” Bisping said. “He’s fighting Khalil Rountree. You cannot look past ‘Killer’ Khalil Rountree. He’s the kickboxer killer. He really is. Think about this: He beat Gokhan Saki, very good kickboxer that came to MMA. Dustin Jacoby, very good Glory Kickboxer that came to MMA. Could he do the same to Alex Pereira? I don’t know. It’s a tough ask, but I tell you what, don’t underestimate the man.”

“After that [if he wins], he’s gotta fight Magomed Ankalaev. He ain’t happy about this. He’s going absolutely mental online. ... He might have a point. We want to see great champions — and Alex Pereira is a great champion make no mistake — we want to see them take on all comers in their division. Also, prove that they can beat all these different types of styles. Magomed Ankalaev on paper is a very, very tough stylistic matchup because of the Dagestani wrestling. If you look at Pereira, he’s had kind of a favorable path. I’m not talking sh*t, I’m just talking facts.”

Luckily for Bisping and detractors of the clash, Du Plessis doesn’t sound keen on the idea of defending against Pereira because of the excuses he’d expect to come after a win. Therefore, he and his coach have already expressed that they’d prefer the fight to see him challenge Pereira at 205 pounds if it does happen.

Ultimately, the prospect of Pereira vs. Du Plessis isn’t likely for 2024 as UFC 307 is around the corner and Du Plessis is expected to rematch another former champion, Sean Strickland, in his next title defense.

For Bisping’s money, that’s probably a better distance to keep for Pereira anyway.

“If Pereira can’t take the best shot from ‘Izzy’ at 185, he probably can’t take the best shot from Dricus at 185 either,” Bisping said. “It means the stock’s gonna drop, simple as that, and it’s going to affect his buying power going forward. Just going down to 185 doesn’t make the most sense for him. Been there, done it, got the T-shirt.

“Go to heavyweight if you truly want to become a three-division champion. What an achievement that would be.”