Alex Pereira is the recently crowned UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Whilst his journey to becoming a two-divisional champion has been remarkable, he has quickly become a fan favorite as well. Be it through his rivalry with Israel Adesanya, or his stone-cold expressions, Pereira is very well loved by fans.
Although he may have a heart seemingly made of stone, Pereira does have a solid sense of humor. Showing that he can be fun, despite being all serious, has particularly gone down well with the fans. Along with being an exceptional fighter, ‘Poatan‘ also tries to incorporate fun every now and then to try and keep things a little lighthearted.
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Previously, Alex took to social media to show his preparation for UFC 281. Whilst many may have expected to see him sparring, they likely did not expect him to do so on top of a hoverboard. Naturally, fans on social media absolutely lapped it up. As it turns out, the hoverboard sparring was simply Pereira’s way of mocking his arch-nemesis, Israel Adesanya.
Ahead of their UFC 281 showdown, Adesanya had posted a training session, dodging tennis balls. The idea behind it was to sharpen his speed and reaction skills. However, Alex saw it as an opportunity to try and get one up on Izzy by posting a training clip of his own.
Alex Pereira is no stranger to unorthodox training methods
Whilst the video went down very well with the fans, Alex Pereira also beat Israel Adesanya for the Middleweight title at UFC 281. Although the Kiwi fighter managed to get it back at UFC 287, Pereira’s work was already done. With that, he made his move up to Light Heavyweight, beating Jan Blachowicz and Jiri Prochazka to win the title. Notably, Prochazka himself is a man known for his unorthodox training methods as well.
However, despite his massive accomplishments, Pereira remains just as before, entertaining the fans. Taking to social media and his YouTube channel, Alex often posts videos trolling his coach and mentor, Glover Teixeira. Ever since making his way to the UFC, Pereira has worked closely with the former light heavyweight champion and followed his guidance diligently.
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Having achieved a lot of success in a very short span, Alex is grateful to Glover for his wisdom. As a result, Pereira has even presented Glover with a fancy motorbike as a gift of his appreciation for him. Moreover, the two have seemingly developed a close bond and have even been seen goofing about at times. Recently, the two also got into the spirit of Halloween and celebrated with a special sparring session.
Whilst the immediate future for Pereira is uncertain, what is certain is that he is slowly winning over the fans. One of the most stoic faces in the sport, Alex’s soft and humorous side has been well received. With that said it will be interesting to see if he keeps doing more lighthearted stuff and connecting with the fans.