Israel Adesanya’s Worst Nightmare: Alexsandro Pereira Joins the UFC

The only man to ever knock out the current Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder is fighting at UFC 268.

The relationship between mixed martial arts and kickboxing has been tight since the first UFC event and even the obscure no-holds-barred days. On Saturday, a new former kickboxing world champion is crossing over, hoping to follow the path of Alistair Overeem, arguably the best kickboxer that has ever put on the 4-ounce gloves. The man in question is Alexsandro Pereira, better known as “Poatan.” He joins the UFC ranks featuring a modest record of three victories and a sole defeat, but boasting a past as Glory Kickboxing two-division champion. The combined record of his MMA foes is a lackluster 37 wins and 24 losses, but Pereira proved that he is a fast learner who doesn’t mind getting out of his comfort zone.

After his troubled teenage years near a Brazilian favela, Pereira discovered kickboxing as a way to defeat his alcohol addiction. It was love at first sight, and it didn’t take long for the 6-foot-4 Pereira to make a name for himself in his home country thanks to his heavy hands. In 2014, two years after his professional debut, he traveled to Zagreb, Croatia, to join the middleweight contender’s tournament at Glory 14. Pereira overcame current UFC 205-pound contender Dustin Jacoby thanks to a left hook before taking a decision from Sahak Parparyan in the same night to win the tournament.



At a certain point in his career, Pereira felt the need to test himself inside the cage. No sooner said than done, he received an offer from Brazil’s Jungle Fight to face Quemuel Ottoni. Predictably, “Poatan” was a phenom when it came to striking exchanges, but he showed that he had too much ground to cover on the canvas. Round 2 featured a considerable surprise when Ottoni figured out how to neutralize his opponent’s offense by transforming the fight into a brawl. Pereira’s technical striking did little against aggressive dirty boxing, perhaps due to the change in fighting with smaller gloves. The end of the contest arrived in the third frame after Ottoni forced Pereira to tap to a rear-naked choke. The only consolation for the Brazilian kickboxer is that he shared the same result in his MMA debut with another kickboxing legend, Mark Hunt.



Sensing that he might have to work on his grappling, Pereira returned to his first love and faced the rising star of kickboxing, a young Nigerian fighting out of New Zealand named Israel Adesanya. Their first encounter went down in China, and it was pretty competitive from both sides. Ultimately, the Brazilian emerged as the winner by unanimous decision, but the verdict was controversial enough for “The Last Stylebender” to ask for, and obtain, a rematch the following year. Their second clash ended in a dramatic way after Pereira rendered unconscious Adesanya thanks to his trademark vicious left hook, stopping their rematch in Round 3. At the time of writing, this is still the only stoppage Adesanya has ever suffered in his kickboxing and MMA career.



Concurrently with the first Adesanya clash, Pereira also scored his first MMA victories after smashing Marcus Vinicius Fialho da Silveira, arguably his best win so far. After that last fight, he took a long break from MMA to dedicate body and soul to kickboxing until he earned a shot at Simon Marcus’ middleweight belt at Glory 46. The Brazilian outstroke the defending champion without too many problems, knocking him down with a right punch in Round 2. After defending his crown four times, Pereira moved up a division to win the interim light heavyweight championship, which he unified with the undisputed one at Glory “Collision 2” after vacating the middleweight title following his fifth title defense. His latest fight in kickboxing saw “Poatan” dropping the light heavyweight title to Artem Vakhitov.

MMA’s siren song was too strong for Pereira to resist for long. In 2018, it was reported that he was set to compete on the Brazilian version of Dana White's Contender Series. However, the matchup was scratched before it came together as apparently Glory didn’t allow its champion to compete under another banner. “Poatan” would reach a deal with Glory in October 2020, when he signed with Legacy Fighting Alliance and kept fighting in Glory at the same time. In his MMA return, he face-planted Thomas Powell at 4:04 of Round 1 at LFA 95.

HOLY _____! Pereira's power is unreal!!! #LFA95 pic.twitter.com/0EAoY6z4fA

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 21, 2020

Now, Pereira will lock horns with Andreas Michailidis at UFC 268. It’s undeniable that at 34, it won’t be easy for the Brazilian to climb the middleweight ranks and face his old rival inside the Octagon. Still, it should be taken into account that “Poatan” has beena sparring partner of Glover Teixeira for years, and Teixeira just joined the short list of fighters who became UFC champs in their 40s at UFC 267.