MMA is a polarising sport. You either live by it or you don’t see the charm of people beating each other up in the name of sport. In the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), the UFC is the pinnacle, it is the place where the best meets the best, fighting it out to be the most dangerous person in the world.
With UFC 313 taking place this weekend on 9March, one of the most anticipated fights of the year is finally coming to our screens, Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev. But why should you care about this fight? More importantly, why should you care about the guy who has that scary make up on?
The birth of a ghost
A few years ago, Alex Pereira was nowhere to be found. He was drinking in a random bar in Brazil when the then UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya called him out in an interview saying, “He’s just some guy I fought years ago. People love to bring up that he beat me, but they don’t understand, this is MMA, not kickboxing. I’ve grown so much since then.”
Adesanya, considered one of the greatest UFC Middleweight Champions, insisted that his previous two losses to Alex Pereira didn’t paint the full picture and the Brazilian wouldn’t be able to succeed in MMA.
Alex Pereira unsurprisingly took this personally and started to train MMA. His goal was to reach the UFC and fight Israel Adesanya for the third time and make him eat his words. Before their fight at UFC 281, Alex Pereira stated, “He says he was winning the fight before I knocked him out, but if you get knocked out, none of that matters.”
The making of a master
When the bell rang in Madison Square Garden in November 2022, the MMA world would be changed forever. Alex Pereira would become the new UFC Middleweight Champion courtesy of a huge left hook that was followed by a flurry of jabs and punches. A TKO win for ‘Poatan’ and he became one of the fastest UFC Champions, becoming world champion after just four fights.
Izzy Adesanya would get his revenge 5 months on at UFC 287, when he took back his title. This forced Alex Pereira to move up to Light Heavyweight, where he would be facing former Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291.
‘Poatan’, being an elite kickboxer and an adept grappler, took the fight to Jan and won via decision in Salt Lake City, Utah. His next fight would be for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against the Samurai Jiri Prochazka, another former champion.
Sporting a tribal headdress and war paint, his win against Jiri Prochazka made him only the ninth fighter to become a double champion in the UFC, the first in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight division. This is where the story gets interesting.
The goat debate
Now if you ask any UFC fan who their Goat is, chances are they’ll choose between Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, Demetrious Johnson or Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Jon Jones has the record of the most UFC title fight victories, being the youngest UFC champion but his record is marred by his drug abuse and steroid use. However, he’s the only Light Heavyweight champion on that list. Something that could soon change on 9th March.
Ever since winning the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in November 2023, Alex Pereira has gone on a title fight winning streak against the best fighters the UFC has to offer. He defended his title against Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr., all in the space of less than a year. If he wins the fight against Ankalaev, he’ll be the first fighter since Jon Jones to win four title fights in a single year.
Joe Rogan in his podcast said, “His power is different. The way he knocks people out—clean, cold—it’s terrifying. He’s already a legend in combat sports, and what he’s doing in MMA is historic.”
Alex Pereira has very quickly become the face of MMA. Fans joke about how just a few years ago he was just another guy in a bar in Brazil until Israel Adesanya called him out and let a demon loose upon the UFC. This weekend on UFC 313, ‘Poatan’ has the chance to become one of the greatest of all times in MMA history, but his next opponent is from Dagestan. The place where fighters are made. Only time will tell if Pereira will ‘Chama’ or will Ankalaev do the unthinkable.