Alex Pereira has captured the imagination of the MMA world and is only the 9th fighter in UFC history to win championships in two different weight classes. What makes Poatan’s achievement more impressive is the number of fights that he’s done it in.
Pereira did not train in kickboxing until he was already in his 20s and didn’t make his UFC debut until he was already in his 30s. Pereira had three MMA fights under the Jungle Fight promotion from 2015 to 2016 as he dabbled with MMA while he was a world champion kickboxer.
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Alex Pereira UFC Record
Pereira took a 2-1 MMA record when he made his UFC debut at UFC 268 on November 6, 2021. After knocking out Sean Strickland during his third Octagon assignment, Pereira earned a crack at the UFC middleweight title which at that time was held by his kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya.
Poatan slept Adesanya in the fifth round of their UFC 281 headliner to become the UFC middleweight champion after just four UFC bouts.
Adesanya got his revenge in their rematch, stopping Poatan’s unbeaten UFC run at UFC 287. After the loss, he moved up in weight and defeated former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in his 205-pound debut. In his 7th UFC bout, Pereira stopped Jiri Prochazka to win the UFC light heavyweight championship.
At UFC 300, Alex will be looking to defend the light heavyweight title against former champion Jamahal Hill. Overall, Pereira is 9-2 with 7 knockouts in his pro MMA career. He is 6-1 with 4 knockouts inside the UFC Octagon.
Alex Pereira Kickboxing Record
A late bloomer in combat sports, Pereira captured two world titles in the GLORY Kickboxing promotion before fighting in the UFC.