Alex "Poatan" Pereira

Bullet holes on the walls, drugs out in the open for sale, and police nowhere to be seen. This is the Favela, where Alex grew up as a kid. His brother, who is only one year older than him, went down the wrong path and ended up dead at the age of 18. His father was a bricklayer, and his mother was a housewife. Alex had to drop out of middle school to provide for his family, and he worked at a tire shop (you can still see a young Pereira at the tire shop on Google Maps), but it was then that he first encountered a demon he would have to face multiple times, alcohol.

"I tried to stop a few times, 3, 4, 5 times... I don't know, I tried to stop, at the time I was really lost, I used to drink almost 1 liter a day" - Alex Pereira

To beat the addiction, Alex turned to kickboxing, a sport that shows no mercy, but that is when he discovered his indigenous background.

"It made me feel more confident, I wanted to resurrect my origins and indigenous culture" - Alex Pereira

To this day, Alex still walks out with the Indigenous music and does his classic bow and arrow pose to honor his ancestors, sometimes even the face paint from his Indigenous group.

Alex became the first ever simultaneous two-weight division champion in Glory (The biggest kickboxing organization in the world) at middleweight (187 lbs) and light-heavyweight (209 lbs). In 2019, a certain someone became the UFC middleweight champion of the world, which turned out to be Pereira's former kickboxing foe, Israel Adesanya, Alex has defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing but MMA is a different story. In November 2021, Alex was finally signed to the UFC, and his hunt for Adesanya officially began.

"He's (Alex) gonna be that guy, when I'm world champion, when I'm legend, he's gonna be at some pub, talking some sh*t about "I beat that guy one time" " - Israel Adesanya

Alex was actually at a bar when he saw this interview, little does Adesanya know this motivated him. Alex was fast track to a title fight due to his rivalry with Adesanya, with just three fights in the UFC, he is headlining the main event and fighting for the title, the stage is set, and Adesanya waited long for this chance to revenge what happened to him in the previous two times they've met up. A big right hand landed at the end of the first round wobbles Alex, he was saved by the buzzer, a few more seconds in that round Israel probably would've finished Alex. Three more rounds went by, and Alex found himself 3-1 down with one round to go, winning the last round was not an option anymore, because he still would've lost 3-2, he needed to finish Adesanya.

"One round for you to be a world champion, five minutes, enough! enough! you need get to him, you need to knock him out, you only have one round, your going to be a world champion, this round is yours." - Alex's corner man before the final round

With three minutes left in the fight, Alex did it again, he became the first ever person to finish Adesanya in the UFC (also the only person to finish Adesanya outside of the UFC, kickboxing).

He later lost in the rematch against Adesanya, with the belt no longer belonging to him, he decides to let his body rest from all the weight cutting and moves up from middleweight(185 lbs) to light heavyweight (205 lbs), with one win at 205 lbs, he was rewarded a fight against Jiri Prochazka (former 205 champ, but vacated the title due the injury) for the championship, Alex manage to finish Jiri in the second round after losing the first round, putting his name in the history books as the only nine two weight division champion in the UFC.

UFC's 300th PPV event, UFC needed a star to headline the main event, with all three of UFC's biggest stars injured, the ball landed in Alex's hands, this is the biggest opportunity in his career, headlining the biggest event UFC has ever put on and winning basically guarantees you superstardom, he accepted.

His opponent at UFC 300 is Jamahal Hill (also a former 205 champ, but vacated his belt due to injury). At around two minutes left in the first round Hill kicks Alex in the groin section, which is illegal, the referee tried stepping in and letting Alex have a break, but Alex put his hand up stopping the referee from interrupting the fight, two seconds later Alex knocks Jamahal out, creating an absolute highlight at the biggest event of UFC, that night Alex Pereira became a superstar. Dana White (president of UFC) later came out and said Alex came into the fight with a broken toe, Alex became even more of a fan favorite because of this.

Three months later, UFC 303 was supposed to be headlined by the biggest star in the UFC, Conor Mcgregor, but because of injury, Conor decided to pull out two weeks before the fight. Who can fill in for the big boots of Conor, UFC's other two big stars, Jon jones is out due to injury, Israel Adesanya wasn't available, UFC turned to Alex again, Alex was traveling in Australia when UFC called, the fight was in Vegas, and he had two weeks to prepare, fly to the US, and adjust to jetlag. And what does Alex do, of course, he accepts the fight, his opponent is against someone familiar, Jiri Prochazka.

"For me it's a big opportunity, to do this card in Las Vegas, so I'm going to enjoy this moment, enjoy the fight. I'm not going there to risk, I'm going there to win." - Alex Pereira

Lots of media before the fight was talking about how the last time they fought, although Alex was able to finish him in the second round, Jiri looked like the better fighter in the first round, with the pressure of the media, stepping in on short notice, jetlag, and everything all together, on the night of the fight Alex still performed, this time leaving no doubt, dominated Jiri in the first then a highlight reel knock out via head kick in the second round.

After the victory at UFC 303, many fans want to see Alex move to heavyweight and become a three-weight world champion, which has never been done before in the history of UFC, the boss, Dana White, isn't against the idea so is Alex himself. From the favela of Brazil, working at a tire shop, to now an all-time great fighter in the biggest MMA organization in the world is a story truly to aspire to, Pereira came into the UFC late in his career, though the ride is short, he is still writing his own story and cementing his legacy. His story is to be continued...