Alex Pereira is back at the top of the heap at 205-pounds but it might be a bit of time before his next title defence.

‘Poatan’ re-established himself as the 205-pound pacesetter in the UFC with a comprehensive first round TKO win over Magomed Ankalaev a couple of weekends ago in Las Vegas, avenging what was his first loss at light heavyweight to the Russian the previous March.

Immediately following the fight, which lasted just 80 seconds, Pereira could be seen assessing what appeared to be an injury sustained to his left foot, apparently after connecting to Ankalaev’s shin after he switched stances during the bout.

And according to comments published via MMA Fighting, the injury could rule him out of competition until next summer.

“I did an X-Ray in Las Vegas and an MRI here and we have a fracture on my foot, but I still don’t know what will happen, or how long it will take for me to recover,” he said, adding that the proposed fight card to take place on the lawn of the White House in Washington DC next June is his targeted comeback date.

“I think it’s good to focus on this White House [date], it’s something that interests me. I think I’ll focus on this. It was a great sensation. We train hard for that. We want to be in there and give our best, be the best.”

That said, Pereira also noted how the revenge win against Ankalaev wasn’t exactly as he had envisioned it — due to the fact that he wanted the fight to proceed for longer.

“I landed a clean punch before the elbows and he came grabbing my legs,” Pereira noted. “There was an opening and my elbow landed clean. When I landed the first one and saw blood, I started hitting and the referee stopped it. But I think it could have gone a little longer because I promised to slap his face and I couldn’t do that.”

Several high profile fighters, also including Conor McGregor and Jon Jones, have noted their ambition to compete on the White House card next year.