Road to UFC 300: Alex Pereira's journey from alcoholism to double championship
In just over two years, Alex Pereira has already become one of the most well-liked and recognizable fighters in the UFC. Now, in just his 12th professional MMA fight, Pereira is set to headline the biggest fight card in promotional history as the defending champion in the UFC 300 main event.
Having set the record for the fewest fights taken to become a UFC two-division champion at UFC 295, Pereira claimed the then-vacant light heavyweight belt with a knockout of former champion Jiri Prochazka. Five months later, 'Poatan' will return on April 13 to attempt his first title defense against another former titleholder in Jamahal Hill.
Through seven UFC appearances, Pereira has gone 6-1 including four wins over former champions.
Alex Pereira's humbling upbringing and backstory
Alex Pereira may be a two-division champion in MMA and kickboxing today but has not always found success in his life. In one of the best 'rags to riches' stories in combat sports, Pereira did not even begin training in kickboxing until he was 21 years old.
Born in a 'favela' in São Paulo, Brazil, Pereira was forced to drop out of school at an unusually young age and begin working as a bricklayer's assistant to aid his family. The young Brazilian would eventually find his way into working at a tire shop where he would develop a severe alcohol addiction due to the negative influence of his coworkers.
As a 21-year-old in 2009, Pereira felt a sudden desire to change his lifestyle and entered a kickboxing gym to improve his health and rid of his alcoholism. From there, the legendary 'Poatan' was born as Pereira would claim his first world title in GLORY Kickboxing just eight years later.
When speaking on his journey, Pereira is quoted in interviews recalling he had no second option and put his entire life into his training knowing he could not fail.
Transition to MMA: How Alex Pereira became a two-division UFC champion
After several years of success in kickboxing, Alex Pereira initially began dabbling in MMA before he achieved his first championship. 'Poatan' made his MMA debut in 2015 — two years before winning the GLORY middleweight title — but lost to Quemuel Ottoni by submission in the Brazilian regional promotion Jungle Fight.
Sticking with MMA for the moment, Pereira would rebound with consecutive knockout wins in Jungle Fight to improve his record to 2-1 before returning to GLORY. Four years and two championship reigns later, Pereira re-entered the MMA scene with a bang, knocking out Thomas Powell in the LFA to earn himself a UFC contract.
It was not long after that Pereira would make his steal the show in his UFC debut with a bonus-winning flying knee knockout of Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268. Just three fights later, Pereira found himself across a familiar face, fighting rival Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight championship. In just his eighth professional MMA fight, the Brazilian became a world champion once again.
Now entering his third fight as a light heavyweight, Pereira will look to complete his first successful title defense as a UFC champion against Jamahal Hill in the biggest stage of his fighting career. Already a member of the GLORY Hall of Fame, Alex Pereira can cement himself as a legend in a second sport and potentially the greatest combat athlete of all time.