Alex Sandro Silva Pereira, born on July 7, 1987, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former professional kickboxer. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current and two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and former UFC Middleweight Champion.
Pereira is the ninth fighter in UFC history to become champion in two different weight divisions and the first to become champion in both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions of the organization. In kickboxing, he is a former Glory middleweight and light heavyweight champion, and is the first and only fighter to have held Glory titles in two weight classes simultaneously.
Alex Pereira, two-division UFC champion. Source: Sky Sports
Pereira also competed in promotions such as It's Showtime and Superkombat Fighting Championship in kickboxing, and for Jungle Fight and Legacy Fighting Alliance in MMA.
Early Life and Kickboxing Career
Before becoming a prominent figure in kickboxing and mixed martial arts, Alex Pereira had a notable amateur boxing career in Brazil. In late 2013 he went back to the amateurs to participate in the W.A.K.O. World Championship '13 at -91 kg. He won in the quarter final and the semi final but came up short in the finals vs Sergej Maslobojev earning him a silver medal.
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He was scheduled to fight a trilogy with César Almeida during WGP Kickboxing 25 for the vacant belt WGP Middleweight Championship.
After four successful Glory middleweight title defenses (against Yousri Belgaroui twice, Simon Marcus and Jason Wilnis), Pereira moved up to fight Donegi Abena for the interim Glory Light Heavyweight Championship at Glory 68.
After winning the Interim Light Heavyweight Championship, Pereira opted to defend his middleweight title against Ertugrul Bayrak at Glory Collision 2 on 21 December 2019.
Pereira rematched Artem Vakhitov at Glory 78: Rotterdam in his first title defense. He lost the rematch by majority decision.
Transition to MMA and UFC Debut
Transitioning from kickboxing, Pereira made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2015 at Jungle Fight 82 against Quemuel Ottoni, losing the fight via submission.
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He continued at Jungle Fight subsequently racking up two straight victories against Marcelo Cruz and Marcus Vinicius Silveira, with a KO and TKO respectively.
On 3 September 2021, Pereira signed with the UFC. Pereira was often noted for his large frame for his weight class and ability to comfortably cut large amounts of weight.
Pereira made his third title defense against Khalil Rountree Jr.
Pereira’s fighting style is heavily rooted in his kickboxing background, especially from his time as a two-division champion in Glory.
Alex Pereira captured a UFC title in a second division Saturday, becoming the new light heavyweight champion with a second-round knockout of Jiri Prochazka in the UFC 295 main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
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In the co-headliner, Tom Aspinall realized his dream of a UFC championship, winning the interim heavyweight belt with a blistering 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich.
Pereira has been in the UFC for two years and has won belts in as many divisions.
He reached championships in two divisions faster than the eight fighters before him, with only Randy Couture (nine UFC bouts) and BJ Penn (12) coming close.
In six Octagon wins, Pereira has beaten four people who have held UFC gold: Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya, Jan Blachowicz, and now Prochazka.
As something of a side note, Pereira is the UFC's unofficial king of Madison Square Garden. He became the first fighter to headline an event in the arena twice - twice in a row no less. Pereira made his UFC debut there in November 2021, stopped Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title in the 2022 MSG main event, and now finished Prochazka. A perfect 3-0 at "The World's Most Famous Arena." Wild stuff.
But I'd be damned if I didn't say the UFC's new light heavyweight champion has defied the odds and become a surefire Hall of Famer in record speed.
Pereira does deserve to be ranked No. 1 in the world at light heavyweight after finishing Prochazka. Going into UFC 295, many viewed Prochazka as No. 1.
After all, he beat Glover Teixeira for the title in June 2022 and never lost the belt in the cage. That said - and some of you won't like this - I need to see Pereira beat Jamahal Hill before being able to confidently say Pereira is the best at 205 pounds.
Hill, the former light heavyweight champion, relinquished the title due to injury in July. "Sweet Dreams" got the unexpected championship opportunity after Prochazka gave up the belt, and he made the most of it, dominating Teixeira for five rounds in January.
Also, Pereira's win over Prochazka wasn't a one-sided beatdown that left zero doubt. Prochazka won the first round on all three judges' scorecards and seemed to be mostly in control of Round 2 before the finish. Pereira and Prochazka could fight 100 times and they might get 50 wins each. It's that kind of matchup.
Ideally, Pereira's win over Prochazka will lead to some much-needed consistency and clarity in the division. And a Pereira win over Hill (or vice versa) will definitely do that. But until then, the landscape at 205 pounds is still a bit foggy.
Aspinall may just be an interim champion for now, but there's no doubt about it: Jon Jones' heir to the heavyweight throne has officially arrived.
The Englishman is the most undisputed-feeling interim champion in the UFC in a long time - maybe ever.
Even if the winner of Jones-Miocic decides to stick around and unify the titles with Aspinall, the newly crowned interim champ is easily the toughest test available for both men. It is very likely some MMA pundits would even pick Aspinall to beat Jones. Aspinall is that good. He has devastating knockout power, elite-level grappling and submissions, and the movement of a welterweight.
If anyone can beat Jones, it's Aspinall. The 30-year-old Brit would be the most compelling opponent for Jones in years.
A couple of up-and-comers made their mark on the UFC 295 undercard.
French lightweight Benoit Saint-Denis rattled Matt Frevola's brain with a highlight-reel head-kick knockout and then cut a sweet promo in which he called for a shot at the BMF title.
One division below at featherweight, Diego Lopes starched Pat Sabatini in the first round. Lopes made his UFC debut in May, putting on a solid performance in defeat against top 145-pounder Movsar Evloev. The Brazilian bounced back in his second Octagon appearance with a first-round submission of Gavin Tucker. Now he has a winning record in the promotion.
Although he didn’t smile much on the outside, Alex Pereira couldn’t be prouder after his title win at UFC 295.
By stopping ex-champ Jiri Prochazka this past Saturday, Pereira picked up his second UFC belt in just his seventh octagon appearance, an unheard-of championship pace.
“It means a lot to me to conquer this after so many years of training and dedication, and it’s also very important for me to be able to show to everybody where I came from, my humble beginnings,” Pereira said via translator at the post-event press conference. “So to get here and achieve this is a big achievement for me.”
Pereira joins a short list of fighters to claim belts in two separate divisions, but he is in a class of his own when it comes to speed.
Given his trajectory, there was a question of whether he might try for a third belt at heavyweight. On that, Pereira acknowledged the fighter’s realest limitation: age.
“Since I’ve been fighting at middleweight, people have been asking me if I’ll fight at heavyweight, and I keep saying the same thing: I have to listen to my body,” he said. “I’m 36 years old now, and I don’t know how far I can still fight. So now, my focus is just this.”
Pereira immediately called for an MMA trilogy with his longtime rival, champion Israel Adesanya.
Hill defeated Pereira’s longtime friend and mentor, Glover Teixeira, to capture the vacant belt earlier this year. But Pereira’s concern was more on Hill’s schedule than anything else.
“I don’t know if he’ll be able to be ready on time or not,” the champ said of Hill. “When it comes to revenge ... nothing personal.”
Not everyone was happy with the way Pereira acquired the second title, finding fault in the UFC 295 main event’s stoppage by Marc Goddard. The veteran ref stepped in after Pereira clipped Prochazka with a pair of hooks and then landed a blitz of elbows to the head, prompting Prochazka to fall back.
Prochazka later defended Goddard on several occasions, while Pereira believed it was a just call.
“I felt he was feeling those punches, and when he got in, [I hit him with] the left hook and a cross, once he dropped on my legs, which was not like getting a takedown, but he actually fell, I started punching, and I could feel he was fading away,” Pereira said. “I think it was a good stoppage. I know his friends and supporters, his people, are maybe going to try to say it was not, but I think it was the correct way.”
Pereira hopes to convince Adesanya to move up to his new weight division for a showdown. If he can’t, he’ll fight whomever the UFC puts in front of him. As far as he’s come, he’s still going fight by fight to measure his own progress.
But with a new UFC belt in front of him, he’s beginning to soak in the dizzying amount of success he’s had as of late.
“In the beginning, I didn’t even know if I could support myself as a fighter, if I could make a living out of that,” Pereira said.
When Alex ‘Po Atan’ Pereira won the GLORY World Middleweight Championship in 2017, it marked the beginning of one of the most dominant, destructive reigns in the history of the sport. Win followed upon win, often ending in highlight-reel knockouts of such stunning caliber that the average fighter would consider any one of them a personal career highlight.
In late 2019, Pereira made history by becoming the first fighter in GLORY history to hold two belts in different weight classes at the same time when he captured the vacant interim light-heavyweight championship.
Pereira’s rise is all the more remarkable considering that the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil nearly claimed him before he even entered his teenage years.