Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will be interested to watch Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight belt.

Pereira is set to move up to heavyweight to face Gane for the interim belt at the White House in what should be an intriguing fight. The Brazilian is looking to win a title in his third weight class, which would be UFC history, and dos Santos believes he will do just that as he thinks Gane is a good matchup for him.

‘He’s gonna knock Gane out’

“I think he’s gonna do very well, actually, especially in this debut against Gane,” dos Santos said to Ariel Helwani. “I think it’s a great fight for him because of his style. He’s always putting pressure on his opponents, taking their space.

“Gane is very fast, he has good skills, but the way Alex fights is putting on a lot of pressure and finding a good moment to throw those hard hands. I think it’s gonna happen. At some point, he’s gonna knock Gane out in his debut at heavyweight.”

It’s an interesting prediction from dos Santos, as Gane has proven to have a good chin at heavyweight. However, he believes Pereira’s power at heavyweight is different, and it will lead to a stoppage win in his debut.

As for Junior dos Santos, he’s set to return to the cage on Saturday on MVP’s debut MMA event live on Netflix. The former UFC heavyweight champion is set to take on UFC veteran Robelis Despaigne in an intriguing bout.

dos Santos is 23-10 in MMA, and last competed in Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA back in March of 2024 when he scored a TKO win over Alan Belcher. Before that, he beat Fabricio Werdum by split decision in the promotion to snap his five-fight losing skid, which included losses to Gane, Francis Ngannou, and Curtis Blaydes, among others.

Do you agree with Junior dos Santos that Alex Pereira will KO Ciryl Gane?