Alex Pereira may have suffered a setback in his chase of a third UFC title, but his longtime coach, Glover Teixeira, believes the former two-division champion can still rise to the top of the heavyweight division.

‘Poatan’ is coming off a TKO loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 in June, with the defeat coming in his heavyweight debut. But despite the loss, the longtime coach Teixeira believes the Brazilian will eventually achieve his goal of being a three-division UFC champion.

“I believe if he comes back and says, ‘Glover, let’s get this.’ I know for sure he’s going to get that belt, man,” Teixeira told Ariel Helwani. “He’s going to accomplish his goal. He’s going to stay at heavyweight. Yeah, that’s the plan, man.”

The UFC veteran admitted that Alex Pereira is eager to return but believes the former two-division champion should take his time after fighting so frequently over the past few years.

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“I hope so,” he replied when asked by Helwani whether Pereira plans to return this year. “You know, Alex, man, he’s like all the time after the fight, like, ‘When is next?’ He already, before the fight, he already planned the next fight… He wants to fight all the time.

“Right now it’s time to try to control—‘Hey, man, take your time.’ It’s too good to take your time. You fought back-to-back for so long, especially after this. But yeah, he wants to fight. A hundred percent. Alex always wants to fight.”

The bigger question now is who Alex Pereira should face next. Glover Teixeira doesn’t believe Alex Pereira needs a particular opponent. Given his popularity and ability to sell fights, the Brazilian may soon find himself back in title contention with one right win.

And while the longtime coach confessed that he and ‘Poatan’ have “no preference” when it comes to an opponent, he did have one particularly entertaining idea.

“And we joke here. I joke,” he added. “I think after, they say, ‘Hey, Alex, listen. Head up. You know, this is what happened. Let’s go back to the drawing board. Let’s work; let’s work through the mistake. Come back, and maybe you get this fight. You know, this guy is just talking a lot of s—. You know, Hokit. Go over there, knock his a– out, and get back to the top and fight, you know, and get the rematch.’

“That’s what I say… And I think it’s a good fight for Alex. You know, the guy’s just talking.”

Glover Teixeira’s words do not suggest that the UFC has booked or offered Alex Pereira a bout with Josh Hokit, but we do know now that the former champion’s camp at least supports the matchup.

And to be fair, a fight between Alex Pereira and Josh Hokit could certainly generate plenty of interest, especially given the animosity between the two heavyweights. So it’s no surprise that even ‘The Incredible Hok’ wants a one-on-one with ‘Poatan.’

Josh Hokit responds to Glover Teixeira’s Alex Pereira matchmaking idea

Alex Pereira’s heavyweight debut ended in defeat when Ciryl Gane stopped him in the second round of UFC Freedom 250. However, the result also came amid controversy, with ‘Poatan’ later going off on referee Herb Dean for his controversial officiating.

Hokit, meanwhile, has been pressing for a bout with Alex Pereira ever since they met at the fighter hotel before the event. In fact, following the Brazilian’s setback, the heavyweight prospect even continued his verbal campaign with some comments about the Brazilian’s struggles with alcoholism.

“Alex Pereira is a broken man,” Josh Hokit wrote on X. “Imagine how much more broken he’ll be after I beat him… he started as an alcoholic and he will end as an alcoholic.”

Now, after Glover Teixeira publicly floated ‘The Incredible Hok’ as a potential opponent, the 28-year-old has responded with a clear preference for what comes next.

“Either give me Ciryl for the title or Alex for the BMF,” Hokit wrote on X. “Tired of watching these little crotch sniffers lay & pray & people call them the BMF/P4P.

“You can’t have those titles & just hold guys down without doing damage. Whoever I fight, the fans will get pure violence with a show.”

Following Tom Aspinall’s injury, the heavyweight division remained in quite a complicated position, with an interim title ultimately being won by Ciryl Gane. And since it will most likely be a title unification fight next for the two champions, Josh Hokit wants a fight for a title if it is against someone like Alex Pereira, even though the BMF title is currently held by Charles Oliveira.

Whatever decision the UFC plans to make about the fight being held for a title or not, there is no denying that fight fans have got a very interesting dream matchup at hand.