Alex Pereira’s incredibly fast rise through the UFC ranks has seen him become one of the biggest stars in the sport.
The hard-hitting Brazilian kickboxer has only fought in MMA professionally 12 times. But within that brief run, he has already won and lost the UFC middleweight title and moved up to light-heavyweight, where he is currently champion.
He just headlined yet another one of the year’s biggest pay-per-view cards at UFC 303. He faced long-time rival Jiri Prochazka after the original main event featuring Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler was cancelled.
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What age is Alex Pereira?
Alex Sandro Silva Pereira was born July 7, 1987 in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has a younger sister who also fights named Aline, who is three years younger. As of June 2024, he is 36 years old.
Alex Pereria height and weight
Alex Pereira is 6’4″ and has competed at 185lb and 205lb during his UFC career. However, he is likely considerably heavier than even the light-heavyweight limit on a day-to-day basis given how he rehydrates after weigh-ins.
After his weigh-in for UFC 300, where he fought Jamahal Hill, Pereira was up to 232lb for his fight day weight. That’s a 27lb, or almost two-stone, weight gain within 24 hours and is a more realistic indicator of his weight.
X/Twitter and Instagram accounts
Alex Pereira has a strong following on Instagram with over 3.7m followers to his name. You can join them @alexpoatanpereira.
MORE BLOODY ELBOW NEWS
Pereira is also on X, formerly Twitter, @AlexPereiraUFC and has 158.2k followers.
Who is Alex Pereira’s girlfriend?
It is unclear if Alex Pereira currently has a girlfriend. He was believed to be dating Polyana Viana until last month, when it appeared that the pair unfollowed one another on social media. She has since posted content with the likes of Merab Dvalishvili and has not addressed the Pereira rumours.
Prior to that, he had been dating a woman named Merle. However, when it emerged that she was still married to another man that relationship came to an end.
Alex Pereira MMA record
W-L-D | (T)KO | Sub |
11-2-0 | 9-1 | 0-1 |
Career stats
Significant Strikes Landed per Minute | 5.23 |
Significant Striking Accuracy | 64% |
Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute | 3.51 |
Significant Strike Defense (the % of opponents strikes that did not land) | 51% |
Average Takedowns Landed per 15 minutes | 1.04 |
Takedown Accuracy | 100% |
Takedown Defense (the % of opponents’ TD attempts that did not land) | 70% |
Average Submissions Attempted per 15 minutes | 0.35 |
Alex Pereira net worth
According to a report from Marca late last year, Pereira’s net worth was around $2million around the time he headlined UFC 295 against Prochazka at Madison Square Garden last year. However, since then he has taken two short-notice PPV main events at UFC 300 and UFC 303.
It’s likely that Pereira was paid very handsomely for both of those events, particularly given the short turnaround times for them both. And that net worth could now be multiple millions higher depending on how he has invested his purses.
Alex Pereira next fight
Alex Pereira has no fights lined up after headlining at UFC 303 on Saturday June 30 in the To-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He has already fought twice in 2024, first at UFC 300 against Jamahal Hill and against Prochazka at UFC 303.
Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka KO
On Saturday June 30, Alex Pereira won a rematch with Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 by round two. He put up the light-heavyweight world title that he won in their initial meeting, which was actually vacant at the time of their New York clash.
Since UFC 295, they have both won once, coincidentally on the UFC 300 card. Pereira unified the division by beating the last man to hold the belt; Jamahal Hill, while Prochazka knocked out Aleksandar Rakic.
Pereira viciously knocked out Prochazka in the second round after dropping him at the end of the first to retain his belt. Now, he may be heading to heavyweight to challenge Jon Jones.
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Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka
The first fight between Pereira and Prochazka was an exciting clash for as long as it lasted. ‘Poatan’ ultimately ended up showing his vicious power, just as he had done a year prior at the same venue against Israel Adesanya in the fifth round to win the middleweight belt.
The win earned Pereira yet another ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus.
Alex Pereira vs Isreal Adesanya
After their two kickboxing matches, which Pereira had won, there was massive anticipation for their trilogy in the UFC. The Brazilian struggled for four rounds, and was almost stopped at the end of the second.
But he managed to land an unbelievable come-from-behind victory towards the end of the fifth, ending Adesanya’s lengthy and dominant reign atop the 185lb division.
Pereira vs Adesanya 2
After their first MMA meeting and third overall, there was still a clamour to see Pereira and Adesanya fight again. The former champion went into an intense training camp and came out victorious in Miami at UFC 287.
It is still unclear if they will ever have a trilogy bout in the octagon, with Pereira 3-1 over their four fights in kickboxing and MMA.
Alex Pereira vs Jamahal Hill
The headliner for UFC 300 needed to be a big fight, and Pereira delivered when he faced the last man to hold light-heavyweight gold; Jamahal Hill. The division had been left without a champion over a year when ‘Sweet Dreams’ vacated the belt due to an injury.
But he returned to contention immediately at UFC 300 to face Pereira, who had picked up the vacant title in the months prior. Unfortunately for Hill, it didn’t work out for him as he was viciously knocked out within a round.
Alex Pereira vs Sean Strickland
Alex Pereira earned his shot at UFC gold when he knocked out Sean Strickland within minutes at UFC 276. That event was headlined by Israel Adesanya vs Jared Cannonier, and saw the pair put together on a card for the first time in the promotion.
Strickland would go on to win middleweight gold, and this has aged as one of Pereira’s finest victories in the cage.
How many times has Alex Pereira beat Izzy?
Arguably one of the greatest feuds in the history of combat sports; Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya go back years. They fought twice in kickboxing, with the Brazilian first taking a controversial decision before knocking out his rival in their rematch.
They had a trilogy of sorts when they met at UFC 281 in November of 2022 at Madison Square Garden, which Adesanya dominated for four-and-a-half rounds before Pereira landed a stunning late knockout. Finally, the fought for a fourth time at UFC 287, with Adesanya winning by knockout.
Alex Pereira stone meme
The Moai emoji is a face on a stone that is representative of the statues on Easter Island, and is used to represent when one is unemotional. Fans on social media began to compare Pereira to the emoji, and he has began to run with it as a meme.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Pereira said via a translator: “Well, I think he start with the fans, you know what I mean? Somebody start mentioning because you know his cold stone face, putting a comparison between them.
“And he kind of start using it too and it’s something that he really enjoy. I think the fans enjoy, he actually made a shirt with a stone face.”
Alex Pereira merch
Alex Pereira sells merchandise via his own website, as well as a number of partnerships. The UFC also sells merchandise for Pereira, although their options are more limited.
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