Rivalries: Alex Pereira

Alex Pereira’s rise to power as a two-division titleholder in the Ultimate Fighting Championship was certainly meteoric in nature.

The 37-year-old Brazilian juggernaut enters 2025 firmly entrenched as UFC light heavyweight champion, with only a few viable contenders available to him at 205 pounds. Pereira has rattled off five consecutive victories, four of them finishes, and now owns a 9-1 record inside the Octagon. He last saw action at UFC 307, where he abused, neutralized and ultimately disposed of Khalil Rountree with punches in the fourth round of their Oct. 5 confrontation.

As Pereira awaits word on his next assignment from UFC matchmakers, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Sean Strickland

Pereira stamped himself as the No. 1 contender in the middleweight division when he buried the Californian with punches in the first round of their featured UFC 276 attraction on July 2, 2022 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The end came 2:36 into Round 1. Strickland seemed ready, willing and able to exchange punches with the Glover Teixeira protege and once again tried to weaponize his forward pressure. It was the worst possible approach to take against the patient and precise Pereira. The Brazilian dropped Strickland to a knee with a sharp left hook, then sealed the former King of the Cage champion’s fate with a pair of crushing follow-up rights. It was the first knockout loss for “Tarzan” in more than four years and provided the first indication that the UFC might have something truly special on its hands with Pereira.

Israel Adesanya

Adesanya enacted some swift vengeance upon his archrival when he cut down “Poatan” with punches in the second round of their UFC 287 headliner and reclaimed the undisputed middleweight crown on April 8, 2023 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Pereira—who had stopped the City Kickboxing star on a fifth-round technical knockout five months earlier—succumbed to blows 4:21 into Round 2. A somewhat tepid first five minutes gave way to the far more heated and eventful second stanza. Pereira crashed forward behind a series of stiff leg kicks and forced “The Last Stylebender” into a defensive shell along the fence. From there, Adesanya sprang his trap. Pereira grew overzealous in his bid to finish, unloaded with punches and exposed himself to a counterattack. Adesanya cut loose with a heat-seeking right hand that set the Brazilian on his heels, then connected with another right that dropped him where he stood. One final hammerfist slammed the door on Pereira and made Adesanya the first two-time champion in the history of the 185-pound weight class.

Jan Blachowicz

Pereira made a successful move to 205 pounds when he eked out a split decision over the former light heavyweight champion in their UFC 291 co-main event on July 29, 2023 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Junichiro Kamijo for Blachowicz, Derek Cleary and Ron McCarthy for Pereira. Blachowicz was in charge for a majority of the first round. He secured a takedown roughly two minutes into the period, advanced to the back and secured his position with a body triangle. He threatened with rear-naked chokes on multiple occasions, but Pereira managed to survive. By the start of Round 2, it became clear that fatigue had already taken a bite out of Blachowicz. Pereira went to work with his world-class kickboxing skills, as he shredded the Pole’s lower lead leg with kicks, leaned into his jab and picked his spots with power and precision. Blachowicz completed a takedown in the final minute of the fight, but his attempts to consolidate it with meaningful damage went nowhere.

Jiri Prochazka

Pereira made certain history would remember him when he struck gold in a second weight class, vanquished the Czech marauder with a volley of second-round elbows and walked away with the vacant light heavyweight title in the UFC 295 headliner on Nov. 11, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Prochazka checked out 4:08 into Round 2. The first man to have won UFC championships at 185 and 205 pounds, Pereira weaved in and out of danger. Prochazka secured a takedown and enjoyed some significant control time in the second half of the first round, having chosen to move the action to the floor after the Brazilian tore into his lead leg with a series of punishing kicks. Pereira stayed calm under duress, eventually returned to an upright position and extended the fight. Prochazka appeared to have him reeling with a few overhand rights in Round 2, but his aggressive tendencies caught up to him. Pereira drilled him with a right hand and a counter left hook as he moved forward, forcing the Jetsaam Gym rep to dive on a desperation double-leg. He answered with a few short punches to the side of the Prochazka’s head, then transitioned to digging elbows that caused real damage. “BJP” collapsed backward in a dazed state while pinned beneath Pereira, at which point referee Marc Goddard elected to call for the stoppage. They met again the following June at UFC 303, where Pereira turned away his challenger with a head kick and follow-up punches in the second round of their rematch.