Lately, current UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has taken mixed martial arts by storm, and he’s at the height of his powers as the defending 205-pound kingpin. One of the faces of MMA’s biggest promotions, he’s carved a career that’s as unique, and impressive, as they come. So, what is his MMA record, anyway?
Hailing from Brazil, “Poatan” has become the sport’s most popular reigning champion from South America with his lights-out kickboxing style and stoic and intimidating demeanor. He’s pierced through several former divisional kings with his ruthless power and striking prowess, leading him to two light heavyweight title defenses and a middleweight crown.
All in all, Pereira boasts a professional mixed martial arts record of 11-2, with nine wins coming via KO/TKO and two by decision. He’s the only combatant to hoist both the UFC 205 and 185-pound titles and currently stands as the consensus 2024 fighter of the year.
So, let’s briefly dive into Pereira’s already-legendary MMA run.
In October 2015, he made his debut in the combat sport as a credentialed kickboxer. The middleweight drew Quemuel Ottoni during Jungle Fight 82 and he succumbed to a third-round rear-naked choke. Not to be deterred, Pereira bounced back with consecutive finishes over Marcelo Cruz and Marcus Vinicius da Silveira in 2016 under the Jungle Fight Banner.
At 2-1, Pereira paused his MMA career to focus on kickboxing. And during a near-four-year period, Pereira became a two-division Glory champion while notching two victories over his perennial rival, future former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
He jumped back into mixed martial arts in November 2020 when he knocked out Thomas Powell as LFA 95’s headlining act. His kickboxing resume and history with “The Last Stylebender,” who had already ascended the 185-pound throne, was enough to land him a spot on the UFC’s roster at 3-1. And he made his presence known from the get-go.
His promotional debut was at Madison Square Garden in New York City for November 2021’s UFC 268. He made short work of Andreas Michailidis and nabbed “Performance of the Night” honors with a brutal second-round flying knee. He followed it up with a unanimous decision triumph over Bruno Silva during a March 2022 Fight Night event. After that, it was over to the races for Poatan.
He took a major step up in his next outing opposite Sean Strickland. They met in the middle of the cage in July 2022 at UFC 276, and Pereira silenced Strickland with his patented left hook. The win catapulted Pereira up the rankings and into a storybook combat sports trilogy match with Adesanya for the middleweight title. And as history has it, Pereira became an organizational champion at 7-1 by dispatching The Last Stylebender via fifth-round TKO at UFC 281 in November 2022.
The win lined up the hotly anticipated fourth encounter with Poatan as the belt holder and Adesanya hell-bent on revenge. They dueled in April 2023 at UFC 287, and although Pereira seemed to be on his way to securing another win over Adesanya, the latter exposed Poatan’s defense and scored an epic knockout in the second round.
Beaten and over the immense weight cutting, Poatan turned his attention to the light heavyweight division — a class he’s dominated since July 2023. Carrying on his streak of fighting former (or future) UFC champions, Pereira battled ex-205-pound king Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291. It was a closely contested affair, but in the end, the judges awarded Pereira the split-decision victory.
At this point, Pereira had built himself into a star no longer solely attached to Adesanya’s name. And because of the nature of light heavyweight, Poatan walked right into a vacant title fight against the man who had earlier dropped the belt because of a shoulder injury, Jiri Prochazka.
The two anime-like characters threw hands and feet at UFC 295 in November 2023. After the dust settled, Pereira made UFC history by earning the division’s gold via second-round TKO.
Fast forward five months and Pereira found himself as the main attraction for the promotion’s tentpole event, UFC 300 in April 2024. This time it was Jamahal Hill who stood and felt Poatan’s unforgiving power. Hill’s campaign to reclaim his old belt was derailed in the first round, and Pereira notched his first-ever UFC title defense.
Pereira had fought four times in one year, and considering he had broken his toe, the Brazilian was due for a vacation. But, after Conor McGregor pulled out of June’s UFC 303, the promotion called on Poatan to save the International Fight Week event on a few weeks’ notice. And he answered emphatically.
Pereira and Prochazka rematched in Las Vegas, and like their first go-around, Pereira ended the fight in the second frame. This time, he landed a viral head kick and closed the night with follow-up ground strikes.
His second title defense elevated his MMA record to 11-2, where it sits at the time of this writing. But, if he continues his applause-worthy activity, expect his record to look different a few months from now.
