Years before unseating Israel Adesanya from the UFC middleweight throne, Alex Pereira got on the board in MMA with a similarly brutal display.
Pereira is among the biggest stars in the sport, having enjoyed a record rise to multi-weight title glory in the UFC just two years after debuting.
The Brazilian adapted quickly to MMA after transitioning from kickboxing, where he also won two titles under the Glory banner. Things did not start perfectly, though, as Pereira lost his MMA debut in 2015.
A year later, ‘Poatan’ entered the win column inside the cage for the very first time, and he did so with a devastating flurry of punches against the fence that UFC fans would later see replicated on MMA’s biggest stage.
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Alex Pereira knocked out his second MMA opponent with a brutal onslaught in 2016
After being choked out in his first foray into MMA, Alex Pereira looked to bounce back at Jungle Fight 85 in 2016. He shared the cage with Marcelo Cruz, a veteran nicknamed ‘The Rock’ who had 15 fights worth of experience at the time.
That advantage ultimately had little impact come fight night, as Pereira tore through his fellow countryman in quick time to add an MMA win to his résumé for the very first time.
The finish came just over four minutes into round one and was set up by a thunderous overhand right that put Cruz on skates. As ‘The Rock’ backed up against the fence, Pereira pummeled him with shots before a vicious left hook slumped him against the fence.
The manner of that stoppage was similar to the combination that completed Pereira’s comeback win over Adesanya at UFC 281 six years later to capture the middleweight crown in just his fourth appearance in the promotion.
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Alex Pereira is facing a puzzle at UFC 320 that he failed to crack first time around
When Pereira first squared off against Adesanya in the UFC, he did so having already gotten the better of him twice in kickboxing. In his next contest, the Brazilian fan favorite will be in a different scenario.
Pereira will challenge Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320, having lost to the Russian in their first showdown this past March.
With that, Ankalaev is the only first-time opponent ‘Poatan’ has lost to in the Octagon. But that does not mean Pereira sees the champ as his toughest rival thus far.
“I’ve definitely fought tougher opponents,” Pereira told The Schmo. “The situation itself on that day (UFC 313), the circumstances, made him a hard opponent.
“But I’ve definitely fought people way harder than him.”