There has been no shortage of incredible UFC highlights and moments throughout the first nine months of 2024 — and Alex Pereira is responsible for many of them.
The 205-pound champion stepped up to headline two of the biggest events of the year on short notice and pulled off epic knockout wins on both occasions. “Poatan” will look to make it three for three this year when he attempts to defend his light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree Jr., this weekend at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City.
Pereira’s remarkable ascension to two-sport stardom has been incredible for fight fans to witness. The fact he has already put together a Hall of Fame-calibre resume despite not yet celebrating his three-year anniversary in the UFC is really what makes his current run so compelling.
Plinio Cruz, one of Pereira’s coaches and his main translator during fight weeks, says Pereira still has “an apprentice’s mind” despite all his accomplishments and is always looking to learn more and improve rather than resting on his laurels.
That mindset combined with his top-tier striking skills and devastating knockout power, plus his endearing personality and Chama energy, has resulted in Pereira becoming one of the faces of the organization.
Pereira fights have become must-see events whenever they pop up on the combat sports calendar.
To help you prepare for Saturday’s main event, in case you had forgotten or simply want to enjoy a trip down short-term memory lane, here is how Pereira’s brief time in the UFC has unfolded leading up to UFC 307:
Nov. 6, 2021, UFC 268: Pereira soars to victory in debut
Pereira’s first UFC fight was the featured prelim on a Madison Square Garden card. After a cautious opening round, the Brazilian exploded with a flying knee that finished Andreas Michailidis, earned Pereira a performance of the night bonus and sent a message to the middleweight division that his advanced kickboxing skills could translate to high-level MMA.
March 12, 2022, UFC Fight Night: Tough three rounds
His second outing remains arguably one of his top three toughest tests at the UFC level in terms of how the fight played out. Pereira couldn’t put away his compatriot Bruno Silva, but he swept the scorecards at the UFC Apex, showed he could go 15 minutes with a respectable opponent and that his skill set was improving.
A couple interesting tidbits about that win is the card on which it took place was headlined by Magomed Ankalaev, who was in the middle of an unbeaten streak that is still active. From a meritocracy standpoint in 2024, Ankalaev should’ve been ahead of Rountree in the pecking order for the next title shot at 205 pounds, however the UFC has resisted booking him against Pereira. The current champ has also said Ankalaev has a boring fighting style and that is one contributing factor to why he wasn’t booked to fight Pereira this year. Roundtree also picked up a TKO win on the main card at that event.
July 2, 2022, UFC 276: Makes quick work of Strickland
Pereira’s star power was slowly increasing in the MMA space, yet many fans were still not yet sold on the former two-weight Glory champ. Much of that changed when he put away Sean Strickland in less than three minutes with an impeccable left hook being the beginning of the end. It’s a win that has aged wonderfully considering Strickland has only gotten better since then and was champion at 185 pounds for around four months until he lost the title in January.
Another fascinating aspect to this fight is, after being competitors, Strickland and Pereira became friendly and occasional training partners. Pereira brought Strickland into his camp ahead of UFC 307, and Strickland has suggested in recent interviews Pereira is going to handily beat Roundtree in Utah.
Nov. 12, 2022, UFC 281: Rivalry renewed with similar result
Pereira and Israel Adesanya fought twice in Glory during their respective kickboxing careers, with Pereira winning both times, including a big knockout in the rematch. Pereira decided to follow Adesanya into MMA and his win over Strickland helped fast-track him to a title shot — had someone besides Adesanya been middleweight champ at the time, the course of Pereira’s career and two divisions might’ve unfolded entirely differently.
Just like he did in kickboxing, Pereira got the better of Adesanya and used his left hook to help get the finish and win a UFC title in just his eighth pro MMA bout. Adesanya had defended the middleweight title five consecutive times so an immediate rematch was booked.
April 8, 2023, UFC 287: Pereira gets chased from 185 pounds
The last time we saw Pereira compete as a middleweight was when he was put out cold by Adesanya in devastating, highlight fashion. It was maybe the most satisfying moment of Adesanya’s UFC career and it forced Pereira to reexamine how much weight he was cutting prior to competing at middleweight.
Pereira never used it as an excuse for the loss and never missed weight, however, he was a massive athlete for that weight class and his frame is better suited to compete at a higher weight. A fighter’s durability can be impacted by cutting a lot of weight and Pereira has looked like an improved fighter since the loss to his rival.
July 29, 2023, UFC 291: Bigger, stronger Pereira debuts
Saturday won’t be the first time Pereira competes in Salt Lake City. That’s where he made his 205-pound debut against former champion Jan Blachowicz. Pereira ended up winning a split decision and immediately established himself as a title contender in a new division, something Adesanya had previously failed to do against Blachowicz in March of 2021 when he moved up in weight in an attempt to become a two-division champ. Not much was known at the time, but Pereira sustained a knee injury preparing for UFC 291 and was dealing with it for the duration of the year.
Nov. 11, 2023, UFC 295: New gold wrapped around his waist
Originally scheduled to face Jiri Prochazka in a non-title co-main event, Pereira’s second trip to Madison Square Garden was bumped up to the main event when the UFC put the vacant title on the line after former titleholder Jamahal Hill relinquished the belt following an Achilles injury. Pereira finished Prochazka, a one-time champ at 205 pounds, in the second round and surprise, surprise, the finish all began with a left hook.
Pereira joined an exclusive club with the win by becoming the ninth two-division champion in UFC history. The fact he accomplished the feat in only his seventh UFC appearance is what sets Pereira’s career apart from nearly all other current or former UFC champions.
April 13, 2024, UFC 300: Headlines historic card, avenges Teixeira
His first title defence was a de facto unification bout since Hill had given up his title without actually losing it. Hill was extremely confident prior to the fight, so much so that he disrespected Pereira at the pre-fight press conference, and paid for it in the opening round… I bet at this point you can guess what type of strike Pereira landed to end the fight.
Pereira added another left hook KO to his résumé, and after the fight, revealed that he had suffered a rather gruesome broken toe on his left foot roughly two weeks prior to facing Hill. The win was extra sweet for Pereira since Hill had initially won the title by defeating Glover Teixeira in Brazil in January of 2023, Pereira’s friend, teammate and now coach.
July 29, 2024, UFC 303: Leaving no doubts
The UFC was in a bind after the original headliner for UFC 303, Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, fell apart in the weeks leading up to the event. Pereira was one of the only stars capable of filling in for the main event of International Fight Week and a rematch with Prochazka was booked. Ironically, it was a broken toe that forced McGregor off the card, the same injury Pereira ignored against Hill and had still not fully recovered from.
Some had felt the first fight with Prochazka was stopped a little prematurely. Pereira left no doubts in the rematch. After nearly finishing his opponent in the waning seconds of Round 1, Pereira ended things swiftly in Round 2. It was his second finish over Prochazka in an eight-month stretch, and this time the finishing blow was a left high kick. Pereira sustained another toe injury when the knockout kick landed.
That victory saw Pereira improve to 4-0 when competing at 205 pounds, with all four wins coming over former UFC champions and three via highlight stoppage.
Will the 37-year-old be able to continue his incredible run as light heavyweight champion and defend the belt a third consecutive time? If he can snap Rountree’s winning streak Pereira can join Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Frank Shamrock as the only champions in the historic division with at least three title defences.
Pereira is 8-1 overall in the UFC since autumn of 2021. During that stretch, Roundtree has not lost. Granted, he has not been nearly as active as Pereira, but the 34-year-old first-time title challenger has won five in a row and is coming off a December knockout over Anthony Smith that earned him a shot at UFC gold.