If you needed further proof of Alex Pereira’s power, it arrived in the form of confirmation from Glover Teixeira.
The pace at which Pereira rose to Ultimate Fighting Championship stardom is perhaps unprecedented. When he made his UFC debut in 2021, Pereira had only fought four fights in MMA. Pereira went on to defeat former Glory Kickboxing opponent Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title within a year of his UFC debut.
“Poitin” lost the title in a rematch immediately after, but went on to establish his light heavyweight title reign. Teixeira, Pereira’s coach and mentor, lost his light heavyweight title by submission to Jiri Prochaska and then retired after failing to win the vacant belt against Jamahal Hill. Pereira avenged both losses, winning the vacant title against Prochaska and then defending it against Hill. He also defeated Prochaska in a rematch at UFC 303. All three aforementioned wins were by stoppage.
UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+. Order now!
Pereira will next defend his light heavyweight strap against Khalil Rountree in the main event of UFC 307 on Saturday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The champion has also expressed interest in moving back to middleweight in the future and challenging for the 185-pound title from Drikas du Plessis. Teixeira was recently asked by his friend and protégé if he was considering moving up to heavyweight. The former champion believes Pereira can do anything he puts his mind to, including moving up to heavyweight. Teixeira acknowledges that many have knockout power at heavyweight, but believes Pereira is on another level.
“Honestly, I’m confident he can do anything he wants to do,” Teixeira recently told The Schmo. “He can fight at heavyweight and destroy heavyweights because of his strength, his ability to read his opponent, [go] Inside and out, and in terms of power, he’s stronger than any heavyweight I’ve trained. Of course, any heavyweight, Tom Aspinall, Stipe. [Miocic] It also has KO power. But Alex is much more than that. ”
