Alex Pereira is cut from a different cloth. The UFC light heavyweight champion is the biggest superstar in the world’s leading martial arts company. Without knowing how to speak English, with a simple ‘Chama’ as his trademark and charisma to match, he has won the hearts of all the fans. As if that wasn’t enough, his incredible KOs and his determination to save the best cards of 2024 – UFC 300 and UFC 303 – have made ‘Poatan’ one of the most illustrious characters in the history of the sport.
Days ago, the Brazilian went viral again for a video he shared on social media in which he showed his weight a month before his fight against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313. In the video, Pereira could be seen still weighing 106 kilograms – 235 pounds – almost 14 kilograms above the 92.5 kilograms he will have to weigh on the day of the official weigh-in.
The reality behind all this is that Alex Pereira is a fighter with a physique and genetics that are the envy of many, to the point of being able to gain and lose weight more easily than the vast majority of fighters. In fact, just as he is able to lose more than 10 kilos in just one month, he is also able to gain them in just over 24 hours. At last year’s UFC 303, ‘Poatan’ revealed that he gained around 11 kilos – 25 pounds – between the official weigh-in and his fight against Jiri Prochazka in which he ended up knocking out the Czech.
The first three-division champion?
Thanks to his privileged physique, Pereira has won the belt in two different categories since joining the company in 2021. Ten fights, nine wins, seven KOs and six fights with a title at stake. These are figures worthy of a chosen few. His middleweight finale coincided with his first and only defeat in the company, the KO suffered against Israel Adesanya that many blamed on the amount of weight he had to cut to make the 83.9 kilos -185 pounds- required.
If he looked huge in the middleweight division compared to his opponents, in the light heavyweight division he is no slouch either, as the step up in weight class has suited him so well that he is unbeaten and is even considering moving up to heavyweight to become the first fighter to win the belt in three different categories in the UFC. For now, on March 9 he will face one of the toughest opponents he has had to date. Ankalaev has promised to beat him in striking, but his grappling skills could be key in stopping ‘Poatan’.
Jon Jones welcomes him with open arms
However, if Pereira beats what many experts describe as his kryptonite, there will not be much more for him to do in his division, so he would have the door open to a possible fight against Tom Aspinall or Jon Jones at heavyweight. He has already commented on more than one occasion his intention for this to happen, while the current heavyweight monarch prefers ‘Poatan’ rather than Aspinall as the next opponent.
I want to fight dangerous and established champions
Jon Jones
“I don’t want to fight dangerous prospects, I want to fight dangerous and established champions,” ‘Bones’ said after his KO victory over Stipe Miocic in November. Dana White said after hearing those statements that Jones will have to unify the belt against Tom Aspinall – interim champion – if he did not want to retire, but that if he managed to beat the Englishman he would give the green light for a fight against ‘Poatan’. For now, there is only news of the Brazilian’s title defense against Ankalaev, while fans are still waiting for the fight between Aspinall and the UFC GOAT to be made official. Whoever it is, Pereira does not care about the opponent, but the reward of the third belt, which considering his power does not seem like a utopia.