Alex Pereira receives BJJ brown belt from his coach Plinio Cruz following title win at UFC 281
The good news keeps pouring in for newly crowned UFC middleweight king Alex Pereira. After his spectacular victory over Israel Adesanya at UFC 281, 'Poatan' was awarded a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt by his coach Plinio Cruz.
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani put out the news with a picture of Pereira and his coach:
"New UFC middleweight champ Alex Pereira was awarded his BJJ brown belt by his coach Plinio Cruz last night"
New UFC middleweight champ Alex Pereira was awarded his BJJ brown belt by his coach Plinio Cruz last night 📸 @pliniocruzmma https://t.co/wj1UbQmYih
After the event, the Brazilian also got the UFC title tattooed on his arm.
Pereira earned arguably the biggest victory of his combat sports career at UFC 281. 'Poatan' went toe-to-toe against a familiar foe in Adesanya for the middleweight title.
Adesanya appeared to be doing well in the fight and was on his way to earning a unanimous decision win. But prior to the start of the fifth round, Pereira received a highly motivating speech from his cornermen, who asked him to finish Adesanya in the last round.
The Brazilian proceeded to do exactly that and dethroned 'The Last Stylebender' with a TKO victory.
Pereira is now 3-0 against Adesanya in combat sports. Prior to their UFC encounter, the two middleweights crossed paths in kickboxing. Both times, Pereira walked away with the victory.
Pereira got the nod in the first fight via decision, but in the second bout, 'Poatan' delivered a brutal knockout against the New Zealander.
MMA personalities weigh in on Alex Pereira's future as a champion
After Alex Pereira was crowned as the new middleweight king, some notable people claimed that the Brazilian will not stay champion for long. Among them were middleweight contender Sean Strickland and former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub.
During an interview with Helen Yee, Strickland said that Pereira would face difficulty if matched up against highly skilled grapplers like Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker:
"The moment like a Whittaker or even like a Marvin, anybody who goes in there and tries to wrestle will win. He [Alex Pereira] won't be a champion for long, but I mean, he's a f**king savage."
Catch the interview below:
Meanwhile, during an episode of The Schaub Show, 'Big Brown' criticized Pereira's grappling skills and said he won't be able to beat anyone from the top five of the middleweight rankings, aside from Adesanya:
"I'm not taking anything away from Alex, but I don't think he beats a single guy in the top five. After seeing 'Izzy' and Pereira's grappling and wrestling, I'm sure every guy in the top five is like, 'Dear God! Please give me that guy.'"
Catch the full video below: