Alex Pereira is an elite striker who has cemented himself as one of the top MMA fighters in the history of the sport, but he’s recently been working on his Jiu-Jitsu in the gi as well. Pereira was a top kickboxer for several years and he put together a 33-7 professional record that included a pair of Glory world titles at middleweight and light-heavyweight. He also famously beat fellow kickboxer-turned-MMA fighter Israel Adesanya twice, all before eventually following in his footsteps by transitioning into MMA. Pereira put together a 3-1 professional MMA record before being called up to the UFC, where his old rival Adesanya was already the middleweight champion.
Pereira rattled off three wins in his first three fights for the UFC, earning a title-shot against Adesanya in the process. He registered another knockout win over Adesanya in order to add the UFC middleweight world championship to his collection and although he lost the rematch, he had already established himself as one of the top combat sports athletes around. Pereira then moved up to the light-heavyweight division where he has since gone undefeated and won a second UFC belt, becoming one of a handful of men to ever win titles in two divisions.
Throughout all of this Pereira has been known as a striker first and foremost, and his heavy hands have allowed him to rack up 9 knockout wins over his 11-2 MMA career. Although he hasn’t been able to get a submission win yet, he has been working hard to develop his grappling and was promoted to black belt in BJJ after his first successful light-heavyweight title-defense at UFC 300. Alex Pereira has some fantastic coaches and training partners helping to guide his Jiu-Jitsu training and it seems as though putting on a gi is a part of that process. He’s already been getting in rounds with high-level grapplers so it’s no surprise that he’s been looking to challenge himself even further.
The footage of Alex Pereira training Jiu-Jitsu in the gi was uploaded to his official Instagram account:
