On the night of June 29-30, the tournament numbered UFC 303 will take place in the United States. Initially, Dana White made a fantastic announcement: Conor McGregor’s return would take place in this tournament. But the Irishman was injured and withdrew from the fight, and the tournament will be saved by Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka, who will have a rematch, and the light heavyweight title will be at stake.
Alex Pereira is a truly unique fighter who became a UFC superstar in a short time. In general, the Brazilian turned to martial arts to cope with alcohol addiction, which he suffered in his youth. Pereira had a phenomenal career in kickboxing, becoming Glory’s first double champion. Alex ended up in mixed martial arts because of his biggest rival, Israel Adesanya. Pereira defeated Izzy twice in kickboxing, but successfully moved on to MMA, where he became the UFC champion and a real star. As Pereira himself admits, he was motivated by Adesanya’s constant interviews, in which he spoke impartially about the Brazilian.
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UFC 303: Pereira’s fiery rematch with Prochaska and the last fight of Orlovsky’s career? LIVE
Alex decided to move into mixed martial arts, where he built a career no less fantastic than kickboxing. Think about it: With a 3-1 record, he signed with the UFC, where he picked up three wins, got to Adesanya and took the belt from him. After losing a rematch to Izzy, Pereira moved up to the light heavyweight division, where he defeated three former champions of the organization, and is currently the current holder of the light heavyweight belt. The Brazilian had eight fights in the UFC, four of which were title fights, he became a champion at two weights and earned full superstar status in the organization. No one has had anywhere near the career that Alex has.
Yes, we can take into account the fact that Pereira was competently brought into the fight with Adesanya, and no other fighter would have made it to the title fight in such a short time and with so much opposition. But Pereira did the rest himself, building greatness on his own, knocking out all the most dangerous guys in the organization.
What is Pereira so good at? Of course, first of all, this is his fantastic kickboxing foundation, which, combined with his physical strength and size, makes him a simply intimidating fighter. Alex is not one of those fighters who recklessly attacks his opponents and throws a large number of punches. No, Pereira is gaining momentum little by little, choosing the distance, looking closely, while he throws strong low kicks. It must be said that Alex is involved in every blow: perhaps he does not hit as much, but each of his blows causes significant damage to his opponent.
Ankalaev could also win the title with Pereira:
Why is Prohazka valued more than Ankalaev? The samurai deprived the Russian of his title
The main weapon in Pereira’s arsenal is hooks, not in vain does Alex have the nickname Poatan, which in Brazilian means “hand of stone.” The Brazilian is very dangerous at close range. He puts some people into these hooks himself, like, for example, in the first fight with Adesanya or in the fight with Jamal Hill, while others run into them on their own, like Sean Strickland or Jiri Prochazka. But there is only one result: the light goes out at lightning speed. These hooks, especially the left one, which Alex performs with his closest hand, are practiced by the Brazilian to the point of automatism. After all, at this level everyone knows perfectly well what Pereira will do, but this blow comes out so unexpectedly, it hits the jaw and disconnects the rivals. And no one can do anything about it.
Alex has a great sense of distance and time. He is in no hurry to fight, he probes precisely this distance. Sean Strickland said after the fight that during the round he thought it was an easy fight for him, that he was better at the exchanges, better at striking. But then the lights went out, and this is a prime example of how Pereira fights him off. He is a cold-blooded killer who stalks his prey, aims and finishes. He can give the opponent a false sense that he is the one leading this fight, but at the same time seizes the moment. He can wait five rounds until this point, as was the case with Adesanya, or he can find it already in the first rounds.
Speaking of rounds, Pereira fights at such a slow, monotonous pace that he can work at it for the entire 25 minutes. He’s already been through full five-round fights and won them both times, so Alex’s functional training is fine.
In the last fight, Alex destroyed Hill:
The light heavyweight curse has been lifted. Pereira destroyed Hill and defended the UFC championship belt
It is also worth highlighting the dimensions of the Brazilian. When he competed in the middleweight division, it was simply impossible to understand how such a big fighter could fit into this division. Pereira is big even for light heavyweights: on the day of the fight with Hill, Alex posted a video of him showing 105kg on the scale with the light heavyweight division limit at 93kg. And of course, this physical power gives him a tremendous advantage in the cage.
Many experts say that the main gap in Pereira’s technique is his wrestling. Alex himself never gets involved in wrestling, because it is not his style at all, but his opponents do not offer the Brazilian anything in wrestling. Only Jan Blachowicz attempted to beat Alex on the ground, scoring several takedowns, attempting submissions and controlling Pereira on the ground. However, this did not help.
Yes, Alex is clearly not the strongest fighter in the division, and perhaps even one of the weakest. But he trains with Glover Teixeira, who at least taught Alex how to defend himself on the ground. Furthermore, the Brazilian’s physical strength and size do not allow his opponent to keep him on the ground for long, so this gap in technique is not as significant as many say. Here you must also remember that to perform a takedown you must get closer to Pereira, and this risks missing a hook. Maybe that’s why they’re not going to fight Alex.
Alex Pereira
Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Overall, Pereira seems like a true monster almost impossible to defeat. The physically strong Brazilian has phenomenal hitting ability and real dynamite in his hands. At the same time, Alex is mentally strong and believes in himself, which, combined with his skills, makes the Brazilian one of the most dangerous fighters in the promotion, regardless of weight classes. The next attempt to stop Alex will be made by Jiri Prochazka, who dreams of regaining the championship belt. But it will be extremely difficult to do this.
