Former UFC champs disagree on how Alex Pereira wins at UFC White House card

Former UFC heavyweight champions Fabricio Werdum and Junior dos Santos offered competing analyses of how Alex Pereira will defeat Ciryl Gane in their interim heavyweight title bout at the UFC White House card on Sunday. Despite being slotted as the co-main event, the Pereira-Gane matchup has drawn as much attention as the main event between Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria, with both fights representing high-stakes title implications. Notably, Pereira and Gane opened as even-money betting propositions, contrasting sharply with Topuria's status as a heavy favorite.

Dos Santos, who faced Gane in 2020 and was stopped by elbow strikes, believes Pereira's aggressive style and angle-cutting ability will prove decisive. He expects Pereira's devastating knockout power to be the deciding factor when the two strikers inevitably collide, and predicts the Brazilian will become the first fighter ever to hold titles across three different weight classes.

Werdum agrees Pereira will prevail but emphasizes a different path to victory. He notes that Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones have already exposed Gane's vulnerability on the ground. Werdum argues that Pereira, who has been training wrestling and jiu-jitsu with veteran Glover Teixeira, should capitalize on that weakness rather than engage in a striking chess match. Werdum was particularly critical of Gane's mental fortitude, citing his passivity during his submission loss to Jones as evidence that Pereira can finish him on the canvas if he chooses to pursue that route.