Alex “Poatan” Pereira: the kickboxer who became a two-division UFC champion | Ultimate Fighter Reunion

Why fans still care

ALEX PEREIRA came from Glory kickboxing to the UFC and won titles in two divisions. Eleven of his 13 MMA wins came by knockout or TKO. His rivalry with Israel Adesanya, Who’s Who number 23 ran across two sports and four fights.

Early life

He grew up poor in São Paulo and left school at 12 to work in a tyre shop. He calls himself “100% native Brazilian”, and his walkouts feature Xavante chants and a bow-and-arrow mime. Glory says “Poatan” comes from Tupi: “Po” for hand and “Atan” for solid, like stone.

Getting started

He first walked into a kickboxing gym in his early twenties. He became Glory’s middleweight champion in 2017, and in 2019 he added the interim light heavyweight title, the first fighter to hold two Glory belts at the same time.

Career chapters

1. 2016Beats Israel Adesanya, Who’s Who number 23 on a decision in kickboxing
2. 2017Knocks out Adesanya and wins the Glory middleweight title
3. 2019Wins a second Glory title at the same time
4. 2020Moves to Connecticut to train with Glover Teixeira
5. 2021UFC debut at Madison Square Garden
6. 2022Wins the UFC middleweight title from Adesanya
7. 2023Loses the rematch, then wins the light heavyweight title
8. 2024Three title defences
9. 2025Loses and then regains the title against Magomed Ankalaev
10. 2026Vacates the title and moves to heavyweight

Kickboxing and Adesanya 2016 to 2019

In April 2016 he beat Israel Adesanya, Who’s Who number 23 on a very close decision in China. In March 2017 in São Paulo, Adesanya won the first two rounds before Pereira knocked him out with a left hook in the third. It was Adesanya’s first knockout loss. In 2019 he was brought into Anderson Silva’s, Who’s Who number 13 camp for Silva’s fight with Adesanya in Melbourne.

Into the UFC 2020 to 2022

In 2020 he moved to Connecticut to train with Glover Teixeira’s team. His UFC debut came at UFC 268 at Madison Square Garden in November 2021, a flying knee and ground strikes against Andreas Michailidis in the second round. In July 2022 he knocked out Sean Strickland, Who’s Who number 30 in the first round at UFC 276.

Middleweight champion 2022 to 2023

On 12 November 2022 at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden he fought Israel Adesanya, Who’s Who number 23 for the middleweight title. He was behind three rounds to one on every card. In the fifth a flush left hook and a flurry against the fence ended it. It was only his eighth professional MMA fight. In April 2023 in Miami, Adesanya knocked him out in the second round to take the title back.

Light heavyweight 2023 to 2026

He moved up, beat Jan Błachowicz on a split decision, and in November 2023 stopped Jiří Procházka at UFC 295 to win the vacant light heavyweight title. In 2024 he knocked out Jamahal Hill in the first round at UFC 300, then took a rematch with Procházka at UFC 303 on two weeks’ notice as a replacement main event and finished him with a head kick early in the second. In October he stopped Khalil Rountree Jr. in the fourth round. In March 2025 he lost the title to Magomed Ankalaev on a unanimous decision. In the rematch that October, as the underdog, he dropped Ankalaev with a right hook inside the first minute and finished him at 1:20. He vacated the title in February 2026.

Heavyweight 2026 to now

In June 2026 he moved up to fight Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title on the South Lawn of the White House, and was stopped in the second round. “This was the risk,” he said. He is booked to fight Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 in Las Vegas on 12 December 2026.

Outside the cage

He opened Instituto Poatan in São Paulo, which UFC.com says has more than 500 registered young people. In 2026 the UFC gave him the Forrest Griffin Community Award.

Style, technique and the corner

How he fights

He fights orthodox and the UFC lists him as a kickboxer. His left hook knocked out Adesanya in 2017, started the finish of Sean Strickland, Who’s Who number 30 and turned UFC 281. Leg kicks opened his fights with Procházka, and a head kick finished the second. A right hook dropped Ankalaev at UFC 320. Against Rountree his plan, he said, was simple: “The game plan was to let him tire.”

Teams and gyms

Since 2020 he has trained under Glover Teixeira, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, at Teixeira MMA and Fitness in Bethel, Connecticut, with Plinio Cruz also coaching him.

Stories people still tell

1. The stone in his shoe.

   Before UFC 281 he said of Adesanya, “I’m like the stone in his shoe.”

2. Down three rounds to one.

   He was losing on every card at UFC 281 before the fifth-round finish.

3. Two weeks’ notice.

   He took the UFC 303 main event at short notice and won it with a head kick.

Legacy

He held Glory titles in two divisions at once and UFC titles at middleweight and light heavyweight. UFC.com named him its 2024 Fighter of the Year, tied with Ilia Topuria. He went into the Glory Hall of Fame in 2023.