Scouting Report: Alex Pereira

Alex Pereira

Born: July 7, 1987 (Age: 35) in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Division: Middleweight
Height: 6’4”
Reach: 80”
Record: 7-1 (4-0 UFC)
Association: Teixeira MMA
Stage of Career: Prime

Summary: After dethroning Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 in November, Pereira now looks like more of a known commodity in MMA. The current Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder is an outstanding striker who possesses one of the best left hooks in the sport, but he is lacking in other areas—his jab and leg kicks, for instance. He also has perfect, textbook footwork and sound defense, making him difficult for opponents to touch. His grappling is another question mark although likely improving. He took Adesanya down and mostly defended his takedown attempts. However, he was still out-grappled by what we largely consider a pure kickboxer.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Slightly above average.
• Jab: Hard and straight but slightly telegraphed and inaccurate.
• Cross: Impactful and technical but somewhat telegraphed.
• Left Hook: A sudden, fast shot with a perfect, tight arc and nice rotation with legitimate knockout power. Capable of leaving opponents out cold. Can catch opponents moving forward with the punch, as he did with Sean Strickland. Likes to open up with the shot, too.
• Overhand Right: Does not throw it often.
• Uppercuts: Rarely uses them.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Definitely far more of a one-shot sniper.
• Favorite Combinations: The one-two, and while the jab is a little worrisome, the cross is straight, hard and delivered with conviction.
• Leg Kicks: Shockingly light, though it they are fast and difficult to counter.
• Body Kicks: Carries a stellar front kick to the solar plexus. It is ridiculously accurate, along with being sudden and powerful. Certainly a weapon with which he can hurt opponents.
• Head Kicks: Powerful and thrown with plenty of flexibility and accuracy. The strike could stand to be faster.
• Knees: Beautiful, fantastic switch knee. Only needs to hop slightly off the ground to connect with it.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Much of Pereira’s game is centered on the left hook. It has everything you could ever want in a punch: blinding speed, technique, accuracy and single-shot knockout power. He has caught opponents coming forward with it again and again in MMA, having knockout Strickland and Thomas Powell, among others. He possesses one of the best switch knees, too, as he does not need to lean on a full jump thanks to his height and length, making it far more consistent and accurate. Pereira’s front kick to the midsection is utterly devastating. The rest of his offensive game is good but perhaps not as great as one might expect. His jab is solid, but it is not well-hidden and tends to be inaccurate. His leg kicks are also surprisingly light. However, Pereira’s footwork is sublime and his defense is excellent, with an outstanding sense of range, blocking and hand fighting tools at his disposal. He is difficult to hit, enhancing the dangers he poses himself while standing.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Fair.
• Technique: Has a solid grasp of the fundamentals, but he can be slow to react.
• Knees: Fast, hard, and accurate when thrown, but he is usually too focused on avoiding the takedown to do so.
• Elbows: Features a brutal side elbow when someone grinds for a takedown around his hips. Just one can be enough to make an opponent change his mind.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Vulnerable to both due to his concerns with being taken down.

Pereira is vulnerable in close quarters. He has at least average physical strength for the UFC middleweight division and does well with the fundamentals, though he is often a little slow in applying them, especially if an opponent chain wrestles. The fact that he is so concerned with avoiding takedowns also means he neglects his own offense and can be hit by strikes in the clinch. However, if opponents shoot takedowns around his hips, Pereira can nail them with a fantastic side elbow to the head that will make them quickly rethink their approach.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Has some basic ability, pulling off a competent double-leg against Adesanya.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Non-existent.
• Takedown Defense: Serviceable. He avoided all attempts from a journeyman like Powell but got hit with a double-leg in the clinch by Michailidis.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Was largely unable to get back up against Adesanya.
• Submissions: Non-existent.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Tries to avoid being submitted but is very vulnerable to ground-and-pound, which he will often eat rather than give up submission opportunities for his opponent.
• Top Control: So uncomfortable on the ground that he decided to stand up rather than stay there against Powell.
• Ground-and-Pound: Still a question mark since he tries to avoid exchanges on the mat entirely.

Pereira is likely improving his grappling every fight, though he is very far from where it needs to be to neutralize skilled grapplers. Against Adesanya, he was able to neutralize a lot of his takedown attempts and even took him down with a double-leg of his own. However, he was ultimately outgrappled, lost out on transitions, was put in inferior positions against the cage and once on his back was unable to get back up, eating ground-and-pound. Pereira is looking to avoid grappling at all costs, but at present, it's a weakness even against the likes of an almost pure striker.

INTANGIBLES

Athleticism/General Physical Strength: Superb athletically, but he could stand to get stronger in terms of his MMA game.
Cardio: Very good. Despite extended grappling sequences, was still fairly strong in Round 5, enough to throw a vicious series of punches that knocked out Adesanya.
Chin: Tough; being hurt by some of Adesanya's clean hard shots, but able to survive.
Recuperative Powers: Excellent.
Intelligence: He is disciplined with his distance control, hand fighting and strikes. Pereira also shows decent self-control when defending in the grappling phase and getting back to the standup. He has not yet made a bad decision—a common trait for world-class kickboxers transitioning to MMA at such an advanced age.