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This Saturday, with just a few weeks notice, Alex Pereira will once again defend his UFC light heavyweight championship in a rematch against former champion Jiri Prochazka. This is the same opponent Pereira defeated to become the light heavyweight champion just seven months ago. Honestly, I don’t think this fight will be any different than the first one, and Pereira should add an eighth win to an already hall of fame worthy UFC career. In his less than three-year tenure with UFC, Pereira has accomplished as much as nearly any other fighter in UFC history. In his first eight fights, Pereira has defeated five former UFC champions, won championships in multiple weight classes, and main-evented at UFC 300, the biggest PPV in UFC history. As Pereira approaches 37, it’s hard to imagine him having a resume that would qualify him as the best fighter in UFC history. Still, it’s hard to deny that Pereira could be recognized as the best fighter of all time when he decides to retire.
Career Overview
The reason I say Pereira is the best fighter of all time, but not the best UFC fighter of all time, is due to both the uncertainty of how healthy Pereira will be at UFC, and his already impressive kickboxing track record. Pereira began his professional kickboxing career in 2012, and within three years, he won the WGP 85kg Championship Twitch and the Glory Middleweight Contender Tournament. In his subsequent kickboxing career, he won the Glory Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Championships, becoming the first person in the company's history to hold two belts simultaneously. During his kickboxing career, Pereira has wins over current UFC fighters Cesar Aremida and Dustin Jacoby, and of course two wins over former two-time UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya.
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After his contract with GLORY expired at the end of 2019, Pereira returned to professional MMA with a 2-1 record. One fight for regional promotion LFA, where he knocked out Thomas Powell in the first round, was all Dana White and UFC needed to sign Pereira. In his first two bouts in the Octagon, Pereira won a highlight knockout win over Andreas Michailidis and a decision win over Bruno Silva. In his next bout, Pereira faced off against then-top contender and now former middleweight champion Sean Strickland, who Pereira handily defeated in the first round to earn a title shot. Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya will meet for the third time at UFC 281. The bout was largely a technical kickboxing style contest in which Adesanya appeared to be winning until Pereira landed a huge left hook in the fifth round, followed by a flurry of punches that crowned Pereira the UFC middleweight champion, improving to 3-0 against Israel Adesanya.
Five months later, Adesanya got the chance for a rematch, but unfortunately for Pereira, Adesanya made a statement by knocking him out in the second round and reclaiming the middleweight title. After the loss, Pereira decided to move up to light heavyweight and accomplished what Israel Adesanya could not: defeat Jan Blachowicz in his debut in the new weight class. After that win, he defeated Jiri Prochazka by second-round TKO to win the gold medal and become the champion of the second weight class. Finally, in his most recent appearance in the Octagon, Pereira served as the main event of UFC 300, the biggest event in UFC history, where he defeated former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill with a brutal first-round knockout to retain his light heavyweight title.
Alex Pereira's future
In a few days, Pereira will defend his belt against Jiri Prochazka, and the rematch will likely have the same outcome as the first. If Pereira can attack Prochazka with leg kicks and immobilize him, he will be knocked out in the middle of the bout. If he wins this bout, the light heavyweight division is crowded with potential title challengers, and his toughest opponent will be Magomed Ankalaev. Ankalaev will be a grappling threat that Pereira has yet to face in the Octagon. If Pereira is able to handle Ankalaev as well as he has handled his other opponents, he will have proven everything he needs to at 205 pounds. There is a good chance that Pereira will step up to heavyweight and try to become a triple champion at the end of his career. If he can beat someone like current interim champion Tom Aspinall and win the heavyweight championship, he will clearly be the greatest fighter in the history of mixed martial arts in my eyes.
