Alex Pereira Will Become the Greatest MMA Fighter of All-Time (2024)

This Saturday, on just a few week’s 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 who only seven months ago Pereira defeated to become the light heavyweight champion. Quite honestly I don’t see this fight going any different from the first and Periera should add an eighth win to his already hall-of-fame-worthy UFC career. In his less than three-year stint with the UFC Pereira has done as much in terms of accomplishments as nearly every other fighter in the company’s history. In his first eight fights, Pereira has defeated five former UFC champions, became champion in multiple weight classes, and has main evented the biggest PPV in UFC history, UFC 300. Due to Pereira closing in on age 37, it is hard to imagine he will have the resume to be considered the greatest fighter in UFC history. Still, it is not out of the question that Pereira will be regarded as the greatest martial artist of all time when he decides to call it a career.

Career Rundown

Why I say Pereira will be the greatest martial artist of all time and not the greatest UFC fighter of all time is in part both to the uncertainty of how long Pereira will be sound at the UFC mixed with his already incredible kickboxing achievements. Pereira began his professional kickboxing career in 2012 and within three years had won the WGP 85 kilogram championship twitch and the Glory Middleweight Contender tournament. Throughout the rest of his kickboxing career, he went on to win the Glory Middleweight and light heavyweight championships, making him the first to hold two belts simultaneously in company history. During his time in Kickboxing Pereira holds wins over current UFC fighters Cesar Alemida, and Dustin Jacoby, and of course two wins over former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

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Once his contract expired with Glory at the end of 2019 Pereira came back to professional MMA, already with a 2-1 record to his name. He fought once in the regional promotional LFA where he knocked out Thomas Powell in the first round, which was all Dana White and the UFC needed to see to give Pereira a contract. In his first two octagon appearances, Pereira earned a highlight reel knockout win over Andreas Michailidis and a decision win over Bruno Silva. In his next fight, he was faced with top contender at the time and now former middleweight champion Sean Strickland who he defeated with ease, knocking him out in the first round and earning himself a title shot. At UFC 281 it was time, Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya would meet for a third time, this time inside the octagon for Adesanya’s middleweight championship. The fight was mostly a technical kickboxing-style fight that Adesanya looked to be winning, until the fifth round where Perira unleashed a devastating left hook and followed it up with an onslaught of punches that won Pereira the UFC middleweight championship and made him 3-0 against Israel Adesanya.

Five months later Adesanya was given his rematch and unfortunately for Pereira, Adesanya made a statement by knocking Pereira out cold in the second round and recapturing the middleweight title. Following the loss Pereira decided to move up a weight class into light heavyweight and did what Israel Adesanya couldn’t do which was defeat Jan Blachowicz in his new division debut. Following that win he defeated Jiri Prochazka by way of a second-round TKO to capture gold and become champion of a second division. Finally, in his most recent octagon appearance, Pereria main evented the biggest event in UFC history, UFC 300, and defeated former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill by a thunderous first-round knockout to retain his light heavyweight title.

Alex Pereira’s Future

In just a few days Pereira will defend his belt against Jiri Prochazka, and I feel as though the rematch will end the same as the first meeting. I expect a knockout from Pereira midway through the fight once he can make Prochazka a more stationary target after beating him up with leg kicks. Once he wins this fight the light heavyweight division is littered with potential title challengers and I believe the hardest matchup for him is against Magomed Ankalaev. Ankalaev poses a grappling threat to Pereira that he has yet to face in the octagon. If Pereira does the same to Ankalaev as he has to his other opponents he has proven everything he needs to at 205 pounds. To end his career, I could very well see Pereira making a move up to heavyweight to try to become a three-division champion. If he were able to defeat the likes of someone like current interim champion Tom Aspinall and win the heavyweight championship, in my eyes, he would clearly be the most accomplished fighter to ever compete in mixed martial arts.

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