Alex Pereira

Growing up in a favela, Pereira dropped out of middle school to begin working as a bricklayer's assistant^[11] and later in a tire shop.^[12] Influenced by his colleagues, he began drinking and eventually became an alcoholic.^[12] In 2009, he began training kickboxing in order to get rid of his addiction.^[13]

He won the Glory 14: Zagreb - Middleweight Contender Tournament in Zagreb, Croatia on 8 March 2014, beating Dustin Jacoby by first-round knockout in the semi-finals and Sahak Parparyan by majority decision in the final.^[14][15]

It was announced during the Glory 15: Istanbul broadcast that Pereira would be one of eight fighters competing in the Glory 17: Los Angeles - Last Man Standing middleweight tournament in Inglewood, California, United States on 21 June 2014.^[16][17] He lost to eventual champion Artem Levin by unanimous decision in the quarter-finals to exit the tournament.^[18][19][20]

He was scheduled to fight a rematch with César Almeida during WGP Kickboxing 25 for the vacant belt WGP Middleweight title. He defeated Almeida by decision.^[21] He defended his WGP KB title with a second-round KO of Maycon Silva at WGP KB 40.^[22]

In his next five fights, Pereira went on a 4–1 run, losing only to the pound for pound great Artur Kyshenko.^[23] During this run Pereira achieved his most famous victories, defeating the future UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya twice: once by unanimous decision, and once by a counter left hook KO.^[24][25][26]

Pereira won the Glory Middleweight title with a unanimous decision win against Simon Marcus at Glory 46: China.^[27]

Glory Middleweight Championship

Pereira met Yousri Belgaroui at the Glory 40 and Glory 49 Superfight Series,^[28][29] and then in 2018 in New York Madison Square Garden at the Glory 55 for the Middleweight Title Match, where Belgaroui had received the overhand right knockout at 2:29 of Round 1.^[30][31] For Pereira, it was the 28th career victory and the sixth inside the Glory ring.^[28]

In November 2018, Pereira said he would pursue MMA career after his contract with Glory will expire in April 2019.^[32] Eventually, Pereira re-signed with Glory with possibility to fight in the mixed martial arts also.^[33]

After four straight successful Glory middleweight title defenses (against Yousri Belgaroui, Simon Marcus and Jason Wilnis),^[34][35][36] Pereira moved up to fight Donegi Abena for the interim Glory Light Heavyweight Championship at Glory 68. Pereira won the fight via knockout in the third round, becoming the first double champion in Glory history.^[37]

After winning the Light Heavyweight Championship, Pereira opted to defend his middleweight title against Ertugrul Bayrak at Glory Collision 2 on 21 December 2019. After largely dominating the first round, he won the bout via knockout at the end of the round.^[38]

Glory Light Heavyweight Championship

Pereira was scheduled to challenge Artem Vakhitov for the Glory Light Heavyweight title at Glory 77.^[39] Pereira won the fight by split decision, becoming the first fighter in GLORY history to simultaneously hold two belts at the same time.^[40]

Pereira was later stripped of his Middleweight title.^[41]

Pereira rematched Artem Vakhitov at Glory 78: Rotterdam in his first title defense.^[42][43] He lost the rematch by majority decision. Pereira was deducted one point in round 4 due to repeated clinching, which was seen by many as a controversial decision by the referee.^[44]

Early career

Transitioning from kickboxing, Pereira made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2015 at Jungle Fight 82 against Quemuel Ottoni [pt], losing the fight via submission.^[45][46] He continued at Jungle Fight subsequently racking up two straight victories against Marcelo Cruz and Marcus Vinicius Silveira, with a KO and TKO respectively. Pereira announced he had signed a contract to face Diego Henrique da Silva in the Brazilian edition of Dana White's Contender Series on August 10, 2018.^[47] However, the bout never materialized as Glory did not permit Pereira to compete.^[48]

On 22 October 2020, news surfaced that Pereira had signed a contract with Legacy Fighting Alliance and he then made his promotional debut against Thomas Powell on 20 November 2020.^[49] He won the fight via knockout in round one.^[50]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On 3 September 2021, Pereira signed with the UFC. He made his promotional debut against Andreas Michailidis on 6 November 2021, at UFC 268.^[51] He won the fight via technical knock out in round two.^[52] This win earned him a Performance of the Night award.^[53]

Pereira faced Bruno Silva on 12 March 2022, at UFC Fight Night 203.^[54] Pereira outstruck Silva for all three rounds and won the fight via unanimous decision.^[55]

Pereira was scheduled to face Sean Strickland on 30 July 2022, at UFC 277.^[56] However, the promotion decided to move the pairing to UFC 276 on 2 July 2022.^[57] Pereira won the fight after knocking Strickland out in the first round.^[58] This win earned him a Performance of the Night award,^[59] and Crypto.com Fan Bonus of the Night third place award which paid in bitcoin of US$10,000.^[60]

UFC Middleweight Championship

Pereira faced Israel Adesanya for the UFC Middleweight Championship on 12 November 2022, at UFC 281.^[61] He won the bout via technical knockout in the fifth round.^[62] This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.^[63]

A rematch between Pereira and Adesanya for the UFC Middleweight Championship took place on 8 April 2023, at UFC 287.^[64] He lost the bout via knockout in the final minute of round two.^[65]

Move to Light Heavyweight

On 13 April 2023, Pereira announced via Twitter that he was moving up to the Light Heavyweight division.^[66]

Pereira faced former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jan Błachowicz on 29 July 2023 at UFC 291.^[67] He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision.^[68]

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

Pereira faced former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jiří Procházka for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship belt on 11 November 2023, at UFC 295.^[69] He won the bout via TKO stoppage in the second round to win the title.^[70] This fight earned him the Performance of the Night award.^[71] This victory made Pereira the 9th fighter in UFC history to become champion in two different weight divisions.^[72]

Pereira made his first title defence against former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill, on 13 April 2024, at UFC 300.^[73] He won the fight by knockout in the first round after a left hook.^[74]

Pereira has two sons with his ex-wife.^[75]

Pereira has indigenous ancestry from the Pataxó tribe.^[12][76] His nickname "Poatan"^[77] means "Stone Hands" in the Tupi language, which however is not the ethnic language of the Pataxó.^[78] The nickname was given to him by his first kickboxing trainer Belocqua Wera, who was also responsible for helping Pereira discover his indigenous ancestry.^[79]

He has a younger sister, Aline Pereira, who competes for Glory^[80] and had her MMA debut on 18 November 2022.^[81]

Mixed martial arts

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (One time, current)^[82]
    • One successful title defense
  • UFC Middleweight Championship (One time)^[83]
  • Shortest time and fewest bouts to win championships in two divisions in UFC history (736 days/7 bouts)^[84][85]
  • First and only fighter to win the UFC Middleweight and Light Heavyweight championships^[84]
  • Performance of the Night (Four times) vs. Andreas Michailidis, Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya 1, and Jiří Procházka^{[53][59][63][71]}
  • Fourth highest significant strike percentage in UFC history (62.8%)^[86]
  • Latest knockout in a UFC Middleweight fight (2:01 of R5 vs Israel Adesanya 1)
  • Holds wins over five former UFC champions — Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, Jan Błachowicz, Jiří Procházka and Jamahal Hill in first 8 UFC fights.^[87]
• MMAjunkie.com
  • 2022 July Knockout of the Month vs. Sean Strickland^[88]
  • 2022 Male Fighter of the Year^[89]
  • 2022 Breakout Fighter of the Year^[90]
• ESPN
  • 2022 Male Fighter of the Year^[91]
• Sherdog
  • 2022 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year^[92]
  • 2022 Fighter of the Year^[93]
• MMA Fighting
  • 2022 Male Fighter of the Year^[94]
• Sports Illustrated
  • 2022 Breakout Fighter of the Year^[95]
• Yahoo! Sports
  • 2022 Male Fighter of the Year^[96]
• MMA Mania
  • 2022 Fighter of the Year^[97]
• Combat Press
  • 2022 Male Fighter of the Year^[98]
• World MMA Awards
  • 2023 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year^[99]

Kickboxing

Professional

• Glory
  • 2023 Glory Hall of Fame Inductee^[100]
  • 2021 Glory Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 2019 Glory interim Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 2017 Glory Middleweight Champion (five defenses)
  • 2014 Glory Middleweight Contender Tournament Winner
• WGP Kickboxing
  • 2015 WGP Kickboxing Middleweight Champion
  • 2012 WGP -85 kg/187 lb Championship
• World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
  • 2013 WAKO Pro Panamerican K-1 -85 kg/187 lb Champion
• Jungle Fight
  • 2012 Jungle Fight Middleweight Champion

Amateur

• World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
  • 2013 silver medal in WAKO World Championships in Guaruja, Brasil K-1 -91 kg

Awards

• Glory
  • Glory Fighter of the Year 2019

• Combat Press
  • 2017 Fight of the Year (vs. Israel Adesanya)^[101]
  • 2019 Knockout of the Year (vs. Jason Wilnis)^[102]

^[103]

• List of current UFC fighters

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alex Pereira (fighter).

• Alex Pereira at BoxRec (registration required)
• Alex Pereira at UFC
• Alex Pereira at Sherdog
• Alex Pereira at Tapology.com
• Alex Pereira at Fight Matrix
• Alex Pereira at ESPN
• Alex Pereira at Glory (kickboxing)
• Alex Pereira on Instagram