In less than three years, light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira took the UFC by storm. Pereira made his UFC debut in 2021 at middleweight and won three straight over Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva and Sean Strickland to earn a shot at UFC gold against long-time kickboxing foe Israel Adesanya. He maximized the spotlight in spectacular fashion, pulling off a come from behind TKO victory in the fifth round to win the belt. In just four fights, Pereira was the middleweight champion. How could it get any better?
After Adesanya took back his title in the immediate rematch, Pereira decided to take his talents from middleweight to light heavyweight, a 20-pound weight difference. While Pereira was very large for the middleweight division, it was intriguing to see how he’d fare against much larger opposition. In his first fight in his new division, Pereira earned a hard-fought victory over former 205-pound champion Jan Błachowicz, granting “Poatan” a title shot in just his second fight at light heavyweight. If Pereira wasn’t a superstar yet, he soon would be.
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At UFC 295, Pereira took out former champion Jiri Prochazka late in the second round to become light heavyweight champion and add himself to the short list of fighters to win a title in two weight divisions. Five months later, Pereira headlined UFC’s historic UFC 300 card against Jamahal Hill, in which he maximized the spotlight by finishing Hill, yet another former champion, spectacularly in the first.
Then, just two months later, Pereira saved the day during International Fight Week, filling McGregor and Michael Chandler’s main event slot at UFC 303 in a rematch against Prochazka. Ending the first round with a near fight-ending knockdown, Pereira unleashed a vicious head kick just 10 seconds into the second round to collect his third straight knockout victory and second light heavyweight title defense.
At UFC 307, Pereira defended his belt for the third time in seven months against Khalil Rountree Jr. in Salt Lake City. After losing his middleweight title, Pereira won five straight, captured the light heavyweight title and defended it three times. After losing his title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, Pereira reclaimed the throne just seven months later in a rematch with Ankalaev that saw “Poatan” stop the champ in just a minute and 20 seconds.