Now that light heavyweight champion  Alex Pereira is no longer competing in the middleweight division, former titleholder  Robert Whittaker has become a fan of the Brazilian.   Pereira is a combat sports veteran with 40 professional kickboxing bouts.  He arrived in the UFC in November 2021, largely known to mixed marital arts fans as the guy that beat  Israel Adesanya  twice in kickboxing.  In his fourth UFC bout he became the guy that held three wins over “The Last Stylebender” and captured the middleweight title.     After losing to Adesanya in the rematch, Pereira moved up a weight class and won the 205-pound championship in his second fight in the division.