UFC title challenger Alex Pereira becomes third fighter in history to earn Glory Kickboxing Hall of Fame honor
Alex Pereira will be the third fighter inducted into the Glory Kickboxing Hall of Fame.
Before transitioning to MMA, Pereira made a name for himself under the Glory Kickboxing banner. During his promotional tenure, ‘Poatan’ established an impressive resume by becoming a two-division world champion at middleweight and light heavyweight.
It’s been two years since Pereira fought in kickboxing, but Glory hasn’t forgotten about the Brazilian superstar. Earlier today, the promotion announced that ‘Poatan’ would be the third member inducted into their Hall of Fame, joining Joseph Valtellini and Semmy Schilt.
Glory Kickboxing confirmed the news on Instagram by posting a photo of the former two-division champion with the caption:
“Congratulations to @alexpoatanpereira on becoming the newest inductee into the GLORY Hall of Fame!”
Alex Pereira’s last kickboxing bout was a majority decision loss against Artem Vakhitov in September 2021. Since then, he’s gone 5-1 in the UFC, with his first five fights being at middleweight and two for world titles.
In April of this year, Pereira was dethroned of the UFC middleweight title by his longtime rival, Israel Adesanya. ‘Poatan’ decided to limit his weight cut and move up to light heavyweight, where he defeated Jan Blachowicz by split decision in his latest fight on July 29.
Take a look at Glory Kickboxing's Hall of Fame announcement for Alex Pereira below:
When is Alex Pereira’s next UFC fight?
Alex Pereira’s first light heavyweight win in the Octagon has led to a vacant title shot. On November 11, Pereira will headline UFC 295 inside the historic Madison Square Garden against Jiri Prochazka, the former 205-pound champion looking to regain his throne.
Prochazka last fought in June 2022, defeating Glover Teixeira to become the UFC light heavyweight champion. While preparing for this first title defense, ‘Denisa’ suffered a severe shoulder injury, leading to him vacating his title and enduring a tough recovery process.
Coincidently, Jamahal Hill also vacated the 205-pound title after Prochazka due to an injury. As a result, ‘Denisa’ and Pereira gained an opportunity to add more UFC gold to their respective resumes. It’ll be intriguing to see which striker can emerge victorious in the must-see matchup at UFC 295.