Alex Pereira is one in every of MMA’s greatest stars.
It’s loopy to suppose that only a few brief years in the past, the previous two-division GLORY Kickboxing champion was simply one other prospect trying to transition from one fight sport to a different. However because the wins began to stack up for the Brazilian boogeyman, the UFC may see that they’d one thing actually particular on their fingers
Quick ahead to 2025 and ‘Poatan’ is a bonafide famous person. A former middleweight world champion and the reigning UFC mild heavyweight king.
Throughout a current look on the JAXXON podcast with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Pereira shared that when upon a time, he was an aspiring footballer, however finally pivoted to the struggle sport after admitting to himself that he simply wasn’t that good at his nation’s favourite sport.
However soccer wasn’t the one factor Pereira had to surrender in pursuit of a profession in combating.
“I used to drink so much, drink so much. And man, I mentioned, ‘Sports activities save lives.’ Soccer is big in Brazil, however I used to be at all times unhealthy at taking part in,” Pereira mentioned. “So I believed, ‘After I was a child, I preferred to struggle, entering into avenue brawls.’ Then I mentioned to myself, ‘I feel combating is likely to be fascinating for me.’ That’s after I found kickboxing. Actual speak—I needed to cease ingesting first. I drank an excessive amount of.”
Alex Pereira goes for his fourth 205-pound title protection at UFC 313
2024 was a banner yr for Alex Pereira. He efficiently defended his mild heavyweight title thrice, scoring a trio of knockouts towards Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree Jr.
Subsequent, he’ll look to notch a fourth straight protection when he meets the division’s top-ranked contender, Magomed Ankalaev, at UFC 313 on March 8 when the promotion heads again to the acquainted confines of T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas.