UFC 303 roundtable: Is Alex Pereira the MVP of the UFC?

Alex Pereira is here to save the day.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Brazilian star has made a habit out of signing up for big matchups on short notice and then delivering in spades on fight night. The stage is set for Pereira to do it again when he defends his light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka in the replacement UFC 303 main event, which was booked after Conor McGregor bowed out of Saturday’s originally scheduled headliner against Michael Chandler.

Pereira just keeps making history, so MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Mike Heck, and Jed Meshew gathered at the roundtable to preview Saturday’s card in Las Vegas and ponder whether “Poatan” is the UFC’s most important fighter right now.

1. Is Alex Pereira the UFC MVP?

Heck: Yes, and it’s not really up for debate.

Alex Pereira is not only the MVP of the UFC, he has been the savior as well. Pereira gave the UFC a gift when he stepped in and put the absolute perfect capstone on a legendary UFC 300 card when he iced Jamahal Hill in April, and now he’s doing it again on even shorter notice, while banged up with a pair of broken toes — which is ironic considering Conor McGregor’s reason for not fighting Michael Chandler.

And here’s the thing, fellas: When you have the MVP label for this company, you get a golden ticket, or a wild card for whenever you need it. Should Pereira want to face the fighter I’m selecting for the next question with a victory on Saturday, or even step up to fight Jon Jones for the heavyweight title, he should absolutely be able to. Sorry Tom Aspinall. Sorry Magomed Ankalaev.

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Lee: Let’s be honest, as far as fighters go, is there really such thing as a UFC MVP? I’m sure most fans would point to CEO Dana White as being integral to the operation, but clips from the recent Fight Inc. documentary show how dependent he is on Hunter Campbell and company to do the heavy lifting. So if the boss doesn’t qualify for MVP status, realistically how can any fighter?

Sadly, that stands for Pereira. And Jon Jones and Sean O’Malley and Islam Makhachev. Name your favorite fighter, I’m sorry to say that they can only carry so much weight for the promotion in the grand scheme of things. Pereira has certainly made the strongest case for himself in recent years with his willingness to fight anyone across two weight divisions and, more importantly, he arrives in spectacular fashion whenever he’s called upon. Even in defeat, like when he dropped the UFC middleweight title back to Israel Adesanya, it resulted in a viral moment and future box office for the UFC. Pereira shook up the middleweight division, and the ripples later led to Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis emerging as stars.

But if it wasn’t Pereira, it would be someone else, because the UFC has done an outstanding job of building a roster, product, and brand in which everyone is replaceable. Having a guy like Pereira around to save the day is great, but it’s more of a luxury than a necessity for the organization.

Pereira is the man, no bones about it. Just remember that he’s a man who exists in a system that is designed to put a ceiling on his value.

Meshew: ESPN is the UFC’s MVP. Its television rights deal allows the UFC to make obscene amounts of money regardless of the quality of fights it makes. That’s why there are so many Contender Series fighters in the UFC these days: when your product doesn’t matter, cheaper labor is better. ESPN allows the UFC to operate cheaply from the APEX and with cards full of people without Wikipedia pages, maximizing profits. ESPN is the MVP.

But if we’re putting our cynicism on hold for a moment, then yeah, it’s Pereira. Not only has “Poatan” become one of the biggest stars in the promotion, he’s also proven to be a company man through and through, jumping in to save UFC 300 and now UFC 303, and even offering his efforts to do the same for UFC 301. Pereira is basically if Donald Cerrone was actually a world-class fighter instead of just a very, very good one.

Rest assured that if Pereira exits Saturday and is still the champion, he’d probably be willing to step in against Tom Aspinall at UFC 304 if something happens to Curtis Blaydes.

2. What main card fighter is one win away from a UFC title shot?

Meshew: You can make the case for a number of people but I’m going with the fighter known as “winner of Ian Machado Garry vs. Michael ‘Venom’ Page.”

Welterweight is in an interesting spot right now in that there is a very clear contender in waiting and there’s a champion who seems extremely uninterested in fighting him. Leon Edwards is a frustrating champion because though he struggled for years to get the fight he deserved, once he finally got it and became champion, he’s been doing his best to deny others that same opportunity, instead chasing an insane fight with Conor McGregor or a middleweight title shot.

On its face, those are ridiculous wants, but even more so in the context of Edwards. “Rocky” is legitimately one of the best fighters in the world, but he’s also among the least fun. Other than his one head kick win over Kamaru Usman, Edwards has put on the sorts of fights that don’t endear him to fans or the UFC, and thus he’s not going to get the ridiculous things he’s asked for. So that leaves him two options: fight Shavkat Rakhmonov or give the UFC a reason to have him fight someone else. Enter Garry vs. “MVP.”

Shavkat is the hardcore fan’s darling, but there won’t be riots if he gets passed over. And something tells me Edwards would rather put off the Shavkat mauling for as long as possible. So if instead he can call out the winner of this welterweight scrap for either an England vs. Ireland, or All-England matchup, I think the UFC might entertain that.

Of course, this all hinges on Edwards beating Belal Muhammad which certainly isn’t a given. But even if he doesn’t, Belal shouldn’t be in a hurry to fight Shavkat either. That man is a monster.

Heck: As I teased in the Pereira praise portion of the proceedings, the answer is Anthony Smith.

Will he “deserve” it with a win over middleweight Roman Dolidze, who is on a two-fight losing streak? Of course not. Does he have the star power that would typically lead to a strange, non-meritocratic championship booking in the UFC? No. But, the biggest thing he has on his side is that the current champion, and the man who curries favor with the UFC maybe more than anybody on the roster right now probably wants to punch him in the face.

Obviously, both Smith and Pereira have to win in order for this all to happen immediately, but make no mistake about it, if that happens, there’s a very good chance “Lionheart” gets a second crack at UFC gold.

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Lee: It’s Mayra Bueno Silva and I swear I’m not just doing a bit.

Picture this scenario: Silva scores a dominant win over the talented, but inconsistent Macy Chiasson. Let’s say, second-round submission, something like that. Silva immediately gets on the mic, calls for Kayla Harrison, we all kind of shrug it off and move on.

Harrison gets her interim title fight against Julianna Peña, takes out “The Venezuelan Vixen” with ease, and needs a challenger. Right now, you’re thinking, “OK, so Raquel Pennington meets her in a unification bout.” But we don’t know how long the UFC is going to have to wait for Pennington to come back.

With Harrison wanting to stay busy and the UFC scrambling to beef up its pay-per-view cards as it has so many times in 2024, I can see a scenario where the two-time PFL champ is called upon for a quick turnaround. Quick turnarounds need eager opponents and you can be sure Silva fits the bill.

It’s not a fight anyone is asking for right now, but if that scenario doesn’t scream women’s bantamweight, then I don’t know what does.

OK, maybe this is kind of a bit.

3. What is the most must-see fight of the UFC 303 prelims?

Lee: Sometimes, you’ve got to just hand it to the vets, and that’s what I’m doing here with my pick of Cub Swanson vs. Andre Fili.

Despite what some uneducated members of the welterweight roster (OK, one guy) might think, Swanson is more than deserving of the flowers that he’s been given over the years. Swanson is a WEC original, a UFC stalwart, and one half of a Hall of Fame fight with Doo Ho Choi, not to mention a hardened competitor who was ranked for years while some ignoramuses (OK, I’m talking about Joaquin Buckley) were just getting their cagefighting feet wet.

Saturday marks Swanson’s 24th UFC appearance and we don’t know how many he has left. Every chance we get to watch him fight, it’s a privilege.

Fili hasn’t reached the same heights as Swanson and isn’t treated with the same reverence, but he’s been delivering quality performances for years in one of MMA’s toughest divisions. I’m also willing to wager most aren’t aware he has just one less UFC fight than Swanson. “Touchy” has been around and even if he never comes close to fighting for a title, he deserves plenty of respect.

So that’s what I’m giving this matchup of 145-pound veterans. Respect, my full attention, and lots of love.

Meshew: My colleagues are mistaken because there is only one acceptable answer for this question: When the heavyweight GOAT is competing, you should always tune in.

Once upon a time, I made the case that Andrei Arlovski has a legitimate argument for being the UFC’s heavyweight GOAT. It’s a pretty simple argument: he’s a former UFC champion and he’s amassed absolutely ridiculous stats for longevity and excellence. Arlovski DOMINATES the rest of his division for most fights in the UFC, most octagon time, most strikes, and a handful of other categories. And that was two years ago! Since writing that, Arlovski has fought four more times in the promotion, moving second all-time in fights in the promotion. Doing that at heavyweight is INSANE.

Arlovski is 45 years old and a far cry from his peak years, but the fact is this man is in the middle of doing something that will likely never be matched. Three decades of fighting in the UFC, 42 bouts after next weekend (and counting) and over six and a half hours of cage time, all in the most dangerous division in the sport. Is it always pretty to watch? No. But the fact that this man is still competing and still getting relevant wins TWO DECADES after he was the heavyweight champion is something worth celebrating.

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Heck: There’s certainly options, but I’m going with the UFC smartly putting a rising star on an International Fight Week card—and in a matchup that he should look spectacular in— Payton Talbott vs. Yanis Ghemmouri.

Talbott looks like a talent beyond his years, and the UFC has taken notice. Ghemmouri has a good record, but he’s facing a guy he’s frankly better in pretty much all aspects of the game. In Ghemmouri’s UFC debut, he was stopped with a body kick by William Gomis. And while Gomis has been on a great run, he doesn’t have the explosiveness that Talbott does.

The 25-year-old will likely be close to a -2000 favorite by the time UFC 303 rolls around, and I think he delivers a performance that warrants that kind of hefty line.