Alex Pereira is undoubtedly one of the greatest MMA fighters in the world right now.
Dana White thinks he could become the pound-for-pound number one at UFC 313 on Saturday night.
If ‘Poatan’ beats Magomed Ankalaev this weekend, he’ll break a light heavyweight title defense record set by Jon Jones, who is widely regarded as the best MMA fighter of all time after dominating the sport for years.
At this point, some people forget that Alex Pereira is a relative newcomer to the sport, who only began taking it seriously when his kickboxing career ended in 2020.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
In October 2015, Pereira made his MMA debut against 3-0 fighter Quemuel Ottoni.
The future UFC superstar started well as he fended off wrestling attacks and even showed some grappling skills of his own as he hunted submissions and hit reversals.
Ottoni eventually managed to get top position and put himself on the cusp of a first-round victory – but the bell sounded to allow Pereira to see the second stanza.
The 37-year-old rocked Ottoni with a huge punch before pouring it on with a massive onslaught of punches. Amazingly, Pereira’s opponent survived the barrage and began to take over as the round went on.
In round three, Ottoni quickly took Pereira down and locked up a rear-naked choke submission to force the tap.
The Brazilian fan favorite was bloodied, bruised, and dejected as the official decision was read out.
Thankfully that wasn’t the last we saw of him in the MMA cage, which has become his home in recent years.
On Wednesday, UFC boss Dana White announced he is launching a boxing league with Turki Alalshikh.
The news came just weeks after boxing superstar Oleksandr Usyk called out Pereira for a ‘show fight’.
“I jumped for joy when I saw the announcement,” Pereira said in Portuguese at UFC 313 media day.
He added: “Maybe September. Saudi Arabia. I was the first to show interest, and then Usyk showed interest. And now we have to see the interest of the organizations. I’ll be ready.”
Pereira will struggle to make the fight happen as White has ruled out making crossover bouts.
“No, never,” he told Pat McAfee, who asked if he will see more UFC fighters enter the squared circle.
“I’m sure there are guys that want to box, but I literally don’t want to see any of that.
“We’ll keep the boxers in boxing, and the MMA guys in MMA.”