"That Amazonian warrior instinct is strong with Poatan" - Fans in awe of UFC middleweight contender Alex Pereira after watching the Brazilian's incredible target practice clip

MMA fans have reacted to a video of UFC middleweight Alex Pereira showcasing his marksman skills in his backyard while weiding a bow and kicking a soccer ball.

'Poatan' is set to face Israel Adesanya for the middleweight championship at UFC 281 later this year. Many fans consider the Brazilian to be one of the biggest threats to Adesanya's reign because of their history and rivalry.

Both fighters were kickboxers before joining the UFC and fought each other on two occasions. Pereira defeated the New Zealander both times, winning via unanimous decision and KO. The KO loss remains the only time Adesanya has ever been finished in his entire fighting career.

Target practice outside of the Octagon 😱🎯

As if this man could get any more scary 😅

📹: Alex Pereira https://t.co/lG1EMt7byR

MMA fans have reacted to the video and the impressive shot from Pereira, with one fan comparing him to an Amazonian warrior:

"That Amazonian warrior instinct is strong with Poatan"

@btsportufc That Amazonian warrior instict is strong with Poatan

Another fan joked that the Brazilian's impressive bowmanship will come in handy during the third round of the fight with Adesanya:

"That will come in handy in the 3rd when the bow and arrows get thrown into the octagon"

@btsportufc That will come in handy in the 3rd when the bow and arrows get thrown into the octagon

Twitter user @Poppalunge believes Pereira is just practicing for the real thing when he steps into the octagon with the middleweight champ:

"He's gonna kick Izzy's head off and fire an arrow through it. This is just him premeditating the act."

@btsportufc Hes gonna kick izzys head off and fire an arrow through it.

This is just him premeditating the act.

Check out more of the fan reactions below:

@btsportufc Izzy is practicing his running away calf kicks

@btsportufc @stylebender run my brada

@btsportufc Can’t wait until he knocks out Israel stiff

@btsportufc That was a lucky shot, and we all know only Hasbulla can take that belt from Izzy

@btsportufc brazil is the country of football but also of accurate fighters

@btsportufc How has he not noticed the deer leaning against the fence??

@btsportufc Alex's striking is on-point, but how's his grappling?

I got @stylebender all day err day.

@btsportufc *Joe Rogan has entered the chat

@btsportufc love his walk out, he should wilder it next time and go in full body fitted

@btsportufc He’s so cool, we need him as champ

Alex Pereira details how he believes he's going to defeat Israel Adesanya

Middleweight challenger Alex Pereira is as confident as ever that he's going to defeat Israel Adesanya in their third clash.

'Poatan' made his UFC debut in 2021 and has won all three of his fights so far. Pereira's last appearance was against the ranked Sean Strickland, where he landed a stunning KO victory in the first round that was deemed enough for a shot at the title.

Despite Adesanya's undefeated run at middleweight and his five successful title defenses, Alex Pereira believes he's going to finish the 33-year-old once again:

“I can tell you that it will be impossible for him not to engage, if he’s within my reach I will hurt him. And five rounds…he won’t make it, five rounds? And I come close, you can see in the fights that I come close, I have a very good defense. He will want to attack or counterattack, but I can hurt him with my defense too.”

Pereira added:

“I saw in his fights that he kicks a lot and the guys don’t have the right time, the right time to block, you can hurt him with a block. The guy kicked, you blocked, maybe he won’t kick anymore. He’s got a big weapon and I can sort of eliminate it early on, I’ll be close to him, if he doesn’t hit me he’ll get beaten, and if he hits me he’ll get as tired as me.“

Catch Alex Pereira's full comments here: