Alex Pereira previously declined Tom Aspinall fight, says teammate

Phil de Fries, a teammate of Tom Aspinall, claimed that Alex Pereira previously turned down an opportunity to fight Aspinall. De Fries stated that while he believes Tom is better than Francis Ngannou, different opponents present different stylistic challenges. He suggested the Pereira bout would have been an excellent fight for Aspinall. The post concluded with a poll asking fans which heavyweight—Aspinall or Ngannou—would be a more difficult stylistic matchup for Pereira. No specific timeline was provided for when Pereira allegedly declined the fight.