How Alex Pereira became the face of the UFC

his short title journey against an old foe

Pereira only had three fights in the UFC before he earned his shot for Middleweight title glory in his fourth fight. It was clear that after his huge success in GLORY Kickboxing, Poatan would be an eyecatcher in the UFC.

On his debut at UFC 268, Pereira began his campaign in the MMA company with an emphatic second-round TKO win against Andreas Michailidis, hitting the Greek fighter with a vicious flying knee before a couple more punches would see the bout come to an end.

The Brazilian then fought in what will most likely be his only UFC Fight Night bout, as he dominated in a three-round battle against Bruno Silva.

In his third fight with the organisation, the Sao Paulo-born fighter would have a big opportunity to enter the Middleweight rankings at #4 if he defeated Sean Strickland at UFC 276. Halfway through the first round, Pereira landed a powerful left hook which would stun the American before finishing him off with one more punch would see him enter title contention.

It was destined that at UFC 281, Pereira would fight the UFC Middleweight Champion, Israel Adesanya, as both men had a bit of history in their Kickboxing careers. Poatan had defeated Adesanya twice in their two bouts as this would showcase repeat or revenge at Madison Square Garden. 

In a marvellous way, Pereira had shocked the MMA world by defeating Adesanya by fifth-round TKO to become the new UFC Middleweight Champion, becoming the first fighter to defeat the Last Stylebender in the Middleweight division.

Unfortunately, the former two-division Kickboxing Champion would not hold UFC Gold for a long time as when facing Adesanya in a rematch at UFC 287, he would lose by second-round knockout.

Fight activity

When it comes to fight activity, you can always rely on Pereira to fight more than twice a year, whether he is champion or not. What is even more crazy is that five of his nine fights in the UFC have been headliners.

Since debuting in the UFC, Pereira has fought four times in a space of a year or three times in one calendar, hence why he is given so much respect from MMA fans and fighters.

In terms of how active he has been:

2021: 6th Nov - Pereira vs Michailidis

2022: 12th Mar - Pereira vs Silva, 2nd Jul - Pereira vs Strickland, 12th Nov - Pereira vs Adesanya

2023: 9th Apr - Pereira vs Adesanya 2, 29th Jul - Pereira vs Blachowicz, 11th Nov - Pereira vs Prochazka

2024: 13th Apr - Pereira vs Hill, 29th Jun - Pereira vs Prochazka 2

Poatan still has an upcoming bout at UFC 307 against Khali Rountree Jr which will happen in October, making it his third consecutive year with three fights in one calendar year. 

The current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion has not been afraid to back down from a short notice fight as at UFC 303. Just two weeks before UFC 303, both Pereira and Jiri Prochazka would step in to fight for the Light Heavyweight title after McGregor vs Chandler had been cancelled just days before.

Compared to other UFC Champions, Pereira has shown to be the most active which is why he has been ranked so high in the Men's Pound-For-Pound rankings to this present day.

In just the space of one year, Pereira managed to become a two-division champion after his Middleweight title victory against Israel Adesanya at UFC 281, followed by his Light Heavyweight title glory against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295.

The continuous impressive performances

If there is one thing that stands out more than anything for Pereira, it is indeed his unbelievable displays in the Octagon. Only two of the Brazilian's fights have gone to a decision as the rest of his bouts have ended by KO/TKO.

Some of his knockout wins are most prestigious than people realise, for instance, Pereira was the first and only fighter so far to have defeated Israel Adesanya by knockout in MMA.

Pereira is one of two fighters to have only knocked out Sean Strickland in his career which is quite remarkable as Strickland has had 35 fights in his MMA campaign.

Poatan has been the only fighter to defeat Jiri Prochazka in the UFC, defeating the Czech Republican by second-round TKO at both UFC 295 and UFC 303.

The Sao Paulo knockout artist also put on an incredible performance at the UFC's most iconic event, UFC 300, where Pereira would defeat Jamahal Hill by first-round KO on the headliner.

Pereira's left hook has been a game-changer in most of his bouts as five of his fights have witnessed Poatan knock down or stun an opponent with that exact weapon.

The UFC 205-pound Champion is tied fourth for most title wins in UFC Light Heavyweight history with a total of three as if he earns another triumph at UFC 307, he will be tied third with UFC legend and hall of famer, Daniel Cormier.

With such spectacular knockouts and performances in the UFC, it won't be surprising if we see any more as he continues to get as close as possible to reach the milestone of being one of the Greatest Of All Time in MMA.