SUMMARY
- Alex Pereira's Instagram Story started the rumor about a move up to Heavyweight to fight Tom Aspinall at UFC 300.
- Parody accounts on social media tried to take undue advantage of the hyped rumor and started spreading misinformation.
Alex Pereira’s rumored move up to heavyweight to face Tom Aspinall has been grabbing all the attention of the UFC fans. The UFC faithful are eager to get a glimpse of ‘Poatan‘ at heavyweight. However, some accounts on social media are taking undue advantage of the fans’ eagerness. A parody account with the name of a journalist announced a fight between Pereira and Aspinall at heavyweight. Many fans fell for the fake announcement.
An account on X named @BretOkomotoESPN was impersonating an ESPN journalist named Brett Okamoto. The account posted, “BREAKING! Alex Pereira vs. Tom Aspinall for the UFC Heavyweight Interim Championship is a DONE DEAL for #UFC300
Announcement from @danawhite is imminent, Aspinall wanted to fight and he got one, more title fights announced soon. #MMA #UFC”
BREAKING!
Alex Pereira vs. Tom Aspinall for the UFC Heavyweight Interim Championship is a DONE DEAL for #UFC300
Announcement from @danawhite is imminent, Aspinall wanted to fight and he got one, more title fights announced soon. #MMA #UFC pic.twitter.com/naTTtzjamP
— Bret Okomoto (@BretOkomotoESPN) January 11, 2024
Several fans in the comment section were unaware that this was a parody account. The account’s bio states clearly that it is a parody account. This fake account has been posting made-up fights for a while now. However, jumping on the Pereira vs. Aspinall bandwagon proved fruitful for the account’s reach.
Not only on X, but the fake fight announcement trended on Reddit as well. It should be noted that no such fight has been announced by UFC CEO Dana White for UFC 300. Pereira vs. Aspinall is not an official fight. Moreover, Pereira has even confirmed that his Instagram Story that gave rise to the rumors was related to a dream.
Alex Pereira confirmed his Instagram Story was not related to a heavyweight fight against Tom Aspinall
The Brazilian posted a cryptic message on Instagram that read “30+300=3”. Fans were sent into a frenzy as many believed it meant Pereira was fighting 30-year-old Aspinall at UFC 300 for his third title. However, the real explanation was nothing close to it.
“I had a dream – it was 30 plus 300 is equal to three, and I got confused on all those numbers,” Pereira was translated saying in an interview with TheMacLife. “I tossed it on there to see if people could help figure out the equation.”
View this post on Instagram
Further, the UFC light heavyweight champion revealed once such numbers in his dream helped him win the lottery. He claimed, “Like the other day I had a dream about some numbers, and I played a raffle in Brazil and won a motorcycle. Then two months later, it was actually real. I had another one, and I put some more numbers and won another motorcycle.
“So I’m like, ‘You know what? Post this for the fans and see if they can help figure it out.’ I had 30 plus 300 is equal to three. We’re all trying to figure it out too.”
The former kickboxer even revealed that he was open to moving to heavyweight in the future. However, as of now, he is committed to the light heavyweight division.