"I'm trying to get on that Alex Pereira schedule" - UFC champion maps out blueprint for 2025

A reigning UFC champion recently expressed his desire to follow an Alex Pereira-like plan in 2025. Said champion appeared in an interview with Grind City Media and mentioned that he wants to be busy in 2025, just like 'Poatan' has been this year.

Belal Muhammad has graced the octagon only once this year, but he made the most of his UFC 304 outing by claiming the UFC welterweight championship. On the other hand, Pereira has already defended his title three times this year, at UFC 300, UFC 303, and UFC 307, all via knockout.

Moreover, 'Poatan's' activity has been supremely impressive over the last 12 months, having fought four times since last November. In the aforementioned interview, Muhammad claimed he wants to replicate Pereira's activity next year. 'Remember the Name' said:

"Sitting on the couch doesn’t get you paid. Sitting on the couch doesn’t make me happy. I want to get happy by competing. I love to compete… So, yeah, for myself, obviously it’s the task at hand, what’s next. And then for 2025, I’m trying to get on that Alex Pereira schedule, right. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve been on the Fighter of the Year ballot."

Check out Belal Muhammad's comments below (17:01):

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Alex Pereira already has a targeted return date just weeks after his last fight

Alex Pereira put on yet another impressive performance during his last encounter at UFC 307. His rival, Khalil Rountree Jr., subjected him to a few challenging moments in the initial rounds. However, Pereira showcased his championship caliber in the fourth round to win the fight via a TKO.

Fresh off his latest victory, the Brazilian has already decided when he wants to return to the octagon. Pereira appeared on a recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show with his coach, Plinio Cruz, presenting several choices for his return date. After assessing his situation, he revealed that he wants to return in March 2025. Cruz translated Pereira's words about his return.

"Ideally, he [Pereira] would fight around June, it would be ideal, but he would maybe like to fight around March, even, but honestly, say, if it were up to him, he'll fight in December right now. But the problem is these two fights happened too soon and we had a lot of appearances, a lot of trips, a lot of business to do and we had to push them for after these two fights because they were scheduled for before. The guys who organized it understood, but we have some obligations to do so he feels that around March is a good date."

Check out Plinio Cruz's translation of Alex Pereira's comments below (17:05):