Michael Bisping isn’t sold on what he saw. After clips surfaced of Alex Pereira sparring heavyweight prospect Tallison Teixeira, the former UFC middleweight champion said the Brazilian looked less comfortable than he expected — a take relayed this week by Yahoo Sports and MSN.
The footage, which made the rounds online, shows Pereira working through rounds with Teixeira. Bisping, who breaks down fights on his podcast, said he expected the Brazilian to look sharper against the bigger man. Per Yahoo Sports, he called the exchanges “concerning” given Pereira’s place among the most feared strikers on the UFC roster.
Neither outlet says where the session was filmed, or whether it hints at a jump to heavyweight. Pereira hasn’t said anything publicly about a weight-class change, and the UFC has announced nothing on his next booking. No contract details, no timeline.
The clips land less than two months after Pereira reclaimed the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 320 on October 4, 2025, stopping Magomed Ankalaev by first-round TKO in 1:20. That win avenged his March 2025 loss to Ankalaev at UFC 313, where he dropped the belt by unanimous decision over five rounds. Before the Ankalaev rivalry, Pereira had defended the 205-pound title against Khalil Rountree Jr. and Jiří Procházka, finishing both by knockout.
Pereira’s striking numbers remain among the division’s best: 5.16 significant strikes per minute at 67% accuracy across his career. At 6'4" and a listed 204 pounds, he’s been floated as a heavyweight candidate for a while, though he’s stayed at 205 since coming up from middleweight.
A session with Teixeira, a rising UFC heavyweight, will obviously feed the speculation. But nothing has come from the promotion or from Pereira’s camp. Bisping’s read is the only public assessment from a name analyst so far.
With the belt back around his waist, Pereira’s next challenger is still up in the air. Ankalaev figures to stay in the title picture — the series is 1-1 — while Carlos Ulberg keeps building his case at 205. Whether the heavyweight sparring means anything or it’s just training work should clear up once the UFC books his next fight.
