UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira had a warm message for the first man to defeat him in MMA, Kemuel Ottoni, ahead of the upcoming season of Dana White's Contender Series.
Alex Pereira continued his reign as the UFC light heavyweight champion with another impressive win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 last Saturday.
“Poitan” has become one of UFC's biggest stars since his debut in 2021, with five of his nine bouts with the organization being title fights.
Who is Kemuel Ottoni?
Kemuel Ottoni was the first man to defeat Pereira in MMA. Following a stellar kickboxing career in Poatan, the 36-year-old made his MMA debut at Jungle Fight 82 in 2015, losing by submission to Ottoni in the third round.
The 31-year-old struggled to maintain momentum after his win over Pereira and went on a three-year streak of winning and losing bouts.
Nonetheless, he decided to move down from 185 pounds to welterweight where he would find further success.
Ottoni last fought two years ago at Jungle Fight 107, submitting Jose Diaz in the third round of the vacant welterweight title bout.
The Brazilian was scheduled to fight three times under the PFL banner after that, but each time the bouts were cancelled and he has not fought in the past two years.
Alex Pereira sends warm message to first MMA fighter to beat him
UFC recently announced that Ottoni will compete on the next season of Dana White's Contender Series, facing unbeaten prospect Cody Steele in a welterweight bout on September 10th.
Following his successful title defense at UFC 303, Pereira sent Ottoni a warm message despite suffering one of his only two losses in MMA history.
“Yeah, I wish him the best,” Pereira began during his post-fight press conference at UFC 303. “I hope he achieves a lot. If he achieves as much as I did,[UFC]will make him something special and amazing, so I hope he achieves it too. I wish him the best of luck,” the Brazilian continued.
It's highly unlikely that Pereira and Ottoni will ever meet again under the UFC banner, with Poitan currently fighting at 205 pounds and considering moving up to heavyweight.
Pereira sent Prochazka a warm message after brutally knocking him out in the second round for the second time in a row, claiming that the Czech fighter had to choose between “evolving or retiring” after the loss.
“I pray for his health and that he recovers quickly, regardless of whether his future plans work out or not. I have one message for him: he has talked a lot about spirituality because I want him to know that the God that blesses us is the same God that protects us. I am praying a lot for his health and mine after this fight,” the champion concluded.
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