Alex Pereira biography: 13 things about UFC fighter from Sao Paulo, Brazil

Who is Alex Pereira?

Alex Sandro Silva Pereira is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He is a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a black belt in kickboxing.

Born in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil, Pereira is three years older than his sister Aline Pereira, also an MMA fighter and a kickboxer. They are from the Pataxó tribe and they grew up in a favela.

Alex’s fight name is Poatan. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He is a resident of Bethel, Connecticut, United States.
2. He is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
3. Before joining the UFC, he competed in Jungle Fight and Legacy Fighting Alliance.
4. He competes in the lightweight and light heavyweight divisions.
5. He is 5’8″ tall.
6. In 1999, he dropped out of middle school and started working in a tire shop.
7. In 2009, he started his training in kickboxing.
8. On March 31, 2012, he made his professional kickboxing debut.
9. On October 24, 2015, he made his professional MMA debut.
10. On June 17, 2017, he made his professional boxing debut.
11. On November 6, 2021, he made his UFC debut.
12. In January 2024, he said in a podcast that he broke up with his former fiancée Merle Christine after finding out she was already married.
13. On July 7, 2024, he turned 37.

Alex Pereira’s fight career timeline

Alex Pereira holds a professional MMA record of 12 wins and 3 losses; a professional kickboxing record of 33 wins and 7 losses and a professional boxing record of 1 win and 0 loss. Here are the details:

2012

• On March 31, 2012, he defeated Clei Silva via unanimous decision at “Jungle Fight 37” in Sao Paulo.
• On July 7, 2012, he knocked out Fabio Alberto in the semifinals of a WGP Kickboxing tournament in Sao Paulo and defeated Silva via unanimous decision in the final round.
• On September 16, 2012, he defeated Felipe Micheletti via unanimous decision at “WGP Kickboxing 9” in Sao Paulo.
• On November 10, 2012, he lost to Jason Wilnis via technical knockout at “It’s Showtime 60” in Sao Paulo.

2013

• On March 23, 2013, he defeated Cesar Almeida via unanimous decision at “SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes 2” in Sao Caetano, Brazil.
• On August 24, 2013, he knocked out Matias Adaro at “WGP Kickboxing 15” in Sao Paulo.
• On December 21, 2013, he knocked out Camilo Ferraz at “WGP Kickboxing 17” in Sao Paulo before losing to Almeida via unanimous decision.

2014

• On March 8, 2014, he knocked out Dustin Jacoby and defeated Sahak Parparyan via majority decision at “Glory 14” in Zagreb, Croatia.
• On April 26, 2014, he defeated Aleksandr Dmitrenko via unanimous decision at “WGP SUPER 4” in Sao Paulo.
• On June 21, 2014, he lost to Artem Levin via unanimous decision at “Glory 17” in Inglewood, California, USA.
• On September 27, 2014, he defeated Robert Thomas via unanimous decision “WGP Kickboxing 22” in Sao Paulo.
• On December 20, 2014, he defeated Ivan Galaz via TKO in Sao Paulo.

2015

• On April 3, 2015, he lost to Wilnis via unanimous decision in their rematch at “Glory 20” in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
• On July 25, 2015, he defeated Almeida via unanimous decision in their trilogy bout at “WGP Kickboxing 25” in São Paulo. 
• On October 24, 2015, he was submitted by Quemuel Ottoni via rear-naked choke at “Jungle Fight 82” in São Paulo.

2016

• On April 2, 2016, he defeated Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision at “Glory of Heroes 1” in Shenzhen, China.
• On May 8, 2016, he knocked out Junior Alpha at “WGP Kickboxing 30” in Sao Paulo.
• On July 31, 2016, he lost to Artur Kyshenko via TKO at “Kunlun Fight 48” in Jining, China.
• On January 23, 2016, he knocked out Marcelo Cruz at “Jungle Fight 85” in Sao Paulo.
• On May 21, 2016, he defeated Marcus Vinicius da Silveira via TKO at “Jungle Fight 87” in Sao Paulo.

2017

• On March 4, 2017, he knocked out Adesanya via left hook at “Glory of Heroes 7” in São Paulo.
• On April 29, 2017, he defeated Burim Rama via TKO via right hook before losing to Yousri Belgaroui via unanimous decision at “Glory 40” in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• On June 17, 2017, he defeated Marcelo de Souza Cruz via TKO in Socoraba, São Paulo.
• On September 16, 2017, he knocked out Mayron Silva at “WGP Kickboxing 40” in Parana, Brazil.
• On October 14, 2017, he became the Glory Middleweight Champion by defeating Simon Marcus via unanimous decision at “Glory 46” in Guangzhou, China.
• On December 9, 2017, he successfully defended  the Glory Middleweight Championship by defeating Belgaroui via TKO via doctor stoppage in their rematch at “Glory 49” in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

2018

• On July 20, 2018, he successfully defended the Glory Middleweight Championship from Belgaroui via knockout via right hook at “Glory 55” in New York City, New York, USA.
• On September 14, 2018, he successfully defended the Glory Middleweight Championship from Marcus via unanimous decision at “Glory 58” in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

2019

• On May 17, 2019, he successfully defended the Glory Middleweight Championship from Wilnis via knockout via left flying knee in their trilogy bout at “Glory 65” in Utrecht, Netherlands.
• On September 28, 2019, he became the interim Glory Light Heavyweight Champion by knocking out Donegi Abena at “Glory 68” in Miami, Florida, USA.
• On December 21, 2019, he successfully defended the Glory Middleweight Championship from Ertugrul Bayrak via knockout via left hook at “Glory Collision 2” in Arnhem, Netherlands.

2020

• On November 20, 2020, he knocked out Thomas Powell at “LFA 95” in Park City, Kansas, USA.

2021

• On January 30, 2021, he became the Glory Light Heavyweight Champion by defeating Artem Vakhitov via split decision at “Glory 77” in Rotterdam.
• On September 4, 2021, he lost the Glory Light Heavyweight Championship title to Vakhitov via majority decision in their rematch at “Glory 78” in Rotterdam. 
•  On November 6, 2021, he defeated Andrea Michailidis via technical knockout via flying knee and punches at “UFC 268” in New York City.

2022

• On March 12, 2022, he defeated Bruno Silva via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 50” in Enterprise, Nevada.
• On July 2, 2022, he knocked out Sean Strickland via punches at “UFC 276” in Paradise, Nevada.
• On November 12, 2022, he became the UFC Middleweight Champion by dethroning Adesanya, the then champion, at “UFC 281” in New York City.

2023

• On April 8, 2023, he lost the UFC Middleweight Championship title in Miami, Florida, USA where he was knocked by Adesanya in their rematch at “UFC 287”.
• On July 29, 2023, he defeated Jan Blachowicz via split decision at “UFC 291” in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
• On November 11, 2023, he became the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion by defeating Jiří Procházka at “UFC 295” in New York City.

2024

• On April 13, 2024, he successfully defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship title by knocking out Jamahal Hill at “UFC 300” in Paradise.
• On June 29, 2024, he successfully defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship title by beating Prochazka via technical knockout at “UFC 303” in Paradise.
• On October 5, 2024, he successfully defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship title by beating Khalil Rountree Jr. via technical knockout at “UFC 307” in Salt Lake City.

2025

• On March 8, 2025, he lost the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship title to Magomev Ankalaev via unanimous decision at “UFC 313” in Paradise.