If fear had a face, it might look a lot like
Alex
Pereira.
Armed with ferocious power, surgical precision and magnetic
charisma, the reigning
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder
has established himself as a must-see attraction a little more than
two years into his tenure with the company. The menacing 6-foot-4,
205-pound Brazilian now finds himself on a three-fight winning
streak, his line of followers growing longer by the day. Pereira
last fought in the UFC 300 headliner, where he cut down
Dana White’s Contender Series graduate
Jamahal
Hill with punches 3:14 into their April 13 encounter to retain
his light heavyweight championship.
As “Poatan” awaits word on his next assignment from UFC
matchmakers, a by-the-numbers look at his rise to power:
36: Years of age for Pereira, who was born on July 7, 1987 in Sao
Bernardo do Campo, Brazil—a city of some 800,000 people situated
near the southeastern coast of the South American country.
8: Pereira victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting
for 80% of his career total (10). His list of UFC victims: Hill,
Jiri
Prochazka,
Israel
Adesanya,
Sean
Strickland and
Andreas
Michailidis.
156: Seconds needed for Pereira to punch out Strickland at UFC 276
on July 2, 2022. Nearly two years later, it remains his fastest
finish to date.
3: Promotions for which Pereira has plied his mixed martial arts
trade. In addition to his 7-1 record in the UFC, he went 2-1 in
Jungle
Fight and 1-0 in the
Legacy Fighting Alliance.
194: Days spent by Pereira as undisputed UFC light heavyweight
champion. He laid claim to the crown at UFC 295, where he put away
Prochazka with a volley of second-round elbows on Nov. 11.
9: Fighters, including Pereira, who have struck UFC gold in
multiple weight classes.
Randy
Couture,
B.J. Penn,
Conor
McGregor,
Georges St.
Pierre,
Daniel
Cormier,
Amanda
Nunes,
Henry
Cejudo and
Jon Jones are
the others. Pereira held the middleweight championship from Nov.
12, 2022 to April 8, 2023.
165: Total strikes landed by Pereira in his unanimous decision over
onetime
M-1 Global
champion
Bruno Silva
at UFC Fight Night 203 on March 12, 2022. It established a personal
high-water mark for the Brazilian that stands to this day.
63: Percent success rate for Pereira on his significant strikes in
the UFC. He has connected on 416 of his 662 attempts across his
eight Octagon appearances.
200,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Pereira since he
joined the UFC roster in 2021. He has been awarded “Performance of
the Night” four times.
26: Rounds started by Pereira as a professional mixed martial
artist. He has gone the distance on two occasions and carries a 2-0
record in those bouts.