Boxing’s lineal heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk piqued the interest of combat sports fans worldwide on Thursday when discussing his future in prizefighting.
While mulling over the eventual conclusion of his Hall of Fame boxing career, Ukraine’s Usyk said in an interview with TNT Sports that he is interested in competing in what he called a “show fight” before he retires and namedropped UFC superstar Alex Pereira as someone he’d potentially be interested in facing.
Usyk is 23-0 as a professional following his brilliant amateur career that saw him win gold at the 2012 Olympics.
The 38-year-old began his pro career in 2013 as a cruiserweight, eventually becoming the undisputed champion of boxing’s 200-pound division before moving up to heavyweight in the 2020s.
Usyk was just as successful fighting the best heavyweights of his era. Over the past five years, he has earned wins over champions Derek Chisora, Anthony Joshua (twice), Daniel Dubois and most recently he earned back-to-back wins over Tyson Fury in 2024.
Pereira is the UFC’s reigning 205-pound champion. The 37-year-old from Brazil was also the UFC middleweight champion at 185 pounds before he moved up a division to win his second UFC title.
Perhaps more notable than his UFC credentials is the fact Pereira was a two-weight Glory world kickboxing champion before he transitioned to training mixed martial arts on a full-time basis.
Pereira is considered the most feared striker in MMA at the moment. He is 5-0 since moving up to the 205-pound weight class with his four most recent wins all coming via knockout or technical knockout. He is scheduled to headline UFC 313 against Magomed Ankalaev in Las Vegas on March 8.
Before Fury faced Usyk, “The Gypsy King” fought former UFC heavyweight champ and current PFL star Francis Ngannou to a split draw in October of 2023. Fury did not take training for that fight as seriously as he typically would when facing a fellow boxer, yet it was still a surprising result considering Ngannou’s lack of boxing experience. Ngannou even knocked Fury down in the match.
Ngannou followed his close bout with Fury by getting knocked out viciously by another Usyk rival, Joshua, when they met 11 months ago.
Usyk told TNT Sports he thinks he could have only two more fights before he hangs up his gloves.
“First, it’s who wins (between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker on Feb. 22) but next maybe a show fight with Alex Pereira,” Usyk teased with a sly smirk. “Maybe. Why not? Alex (wants to).”
Pereira is under contract with the UFC, which would certainly complicate any hypothetical future negotiations. In 2017, the UFC allowed and helped promote Conor McGregor’s blockbuster boxing match with Floyd Maywether Jr.
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