Alex Pereira Comments On His UFC Rise and Going from Rags to Riches

The sports biggest superstar, Alex Pereira is now the face of the UFC and he came from very humble beginnings.

This year has been seismic for the 205lbs champion and 2025 promises to be even bigger. At the start of 2024 it was announced that Pereira would headline the MMA leaders titanic UFC 300 event against Jamahal Hill. Atop the most stacked event ever put together in fight sports a superstar was born. In a pair of stunning custom shorts Pereira knocked out Hill in Round 1 and it was sublime. Conor McGregor broke his toe and withdrew from UFC 303 so up stepped the Brazilian to rematch unorthodox striker Jiří Procházka in the main event. Another spectacular KO unfolded with a second round head kick. Activity has been one of Pereira’s best assets and he made his third walk to the octagon in 2024 at UFC 307. A bloody war against Khalil Rountree Jr ending with a fourth round TKO ended his year in style.

Alex Pereira’s Early Life

It’s well documented that ‘Poatan’ did not have the easiest upbringing. Born in the favelas of Sao Paulo, Pereira grew up in poverty and dropped out of primary school early. He pursued working as a bricklayers assistant to help out his family. Eventually he ended up working in a tire shop where he was paid in alcohol not in money. Unfortunately, this manifested drinking habits from a very young age and this caused an alcohol addiction for the young Brazilian. In an effort to improve his life Pereira found a kickboxing gym and his life blossomed from there. He discovered his indigenous heritage during training with Belocqua Wera. As he grew and improved he found the weapon he possessed and that now has earned him a spot at the top of the sport performing in front of millions.

Lembro quando meus filhos estavam na última fralda, e eu não tinha dinheiro para comprar mais.

I remember when my sons were on their last pair of diapers and I didn’t have money to buy new ones pic.twitter.com/a5LbrjB4R7
— Alex "Poatan" Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) November 27, 2024

Above is Alex Pereira’s latest tweet showing off his flash Ferrari and a nice chunk of change. The caption is about him not habing enough money for his sons diapers. It is truly great to see the life ‘Poatan has been able to build not only for himself but for his family too. Fans can hope to see Pereira in 2025 headlining more huge PPV cards.

Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images