Michel Pereira has decided to move up to middleweight for his next fight after missing weight by 3lbs for his previous welterweight match-up against Stephen Thompson at UFC 291, which led to the bout being scrapped.
So the 29-year-old will now step up to 185lbs against Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC Fight Night 227 in Las Vegas on October 14th instead.
It’s a bit of a surprising move given that Pereira was on a five-fight winning streak at welterweight over the past few years, beating the likes of Niko Price, Andre Fialho and most recently Santiago Ponzinibbio along the way.
That being said, prior to joining the UFC, Pereira had fought a few times at middleweight, so this isn’t exactly a step into the unknown for him.
The 33-year-old Barriault went winless in his first four UFC outings, but since 2021 he’s been in better form, putting together a 5-2 run that includes back-to-back victories over Julian Marquez and Eryk Anders heading into this fight.
Pereira vs. Barriault joins a UFC Fight Night 227 card that will also include Viviane Araujo vs. Jennifer Maia and Sodiq Yusuff vs. Edson Barboza.
