Former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira was filmed doing some charity work in Brazil. After the video surfaced on the internet of him buying groceries for people, many were not impressed and perceived it as a show.
The act was taken as the fighter’s poor attempt to garner positive PR. Pereira seems to be in a damage control mode since losing his title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 last month. Even though he managed to stuff all 11 of Ankalaev’s takedowns, his public image took a massive hit after the timid performance.
The Brazilian only managed to land 11 strikes while Ankalaev took the fight to him in the five-round affair. The loss has left him in the wilderness with a must-win, legacy-saving rematch in the works.
The bout’s date is not set, though. As Pereira waits, his charity effort could have helped him garner some positive vibes. However, many fans, and a former UFC fighter, felt it was deliberately staged.
“Do it with no cameras,” was the running sentiment after people watched the Brazilian fighter pay for people’s groceries. People also accused the former UFC champion of doing “anything for clicks“.
The comments were led by UFC fighter Jared Gordon, who wrote on a fan page: “How nice, do it while there isn’t a camera there.”
How nice, do it while theres isnt a camera there
— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) April 8, 2025
A fan reiterated Gordon’s sentiments and said, “Can Alex ever help someone without shoving a camera at these people’s faces?”
“Doing for attention like always”, said another, questioning the fighter’s motive.
Of course, distributing groceries at the shop may not have been Pereira’s attempt to clean up his image. Some fighters have done it in the past, that too after a tough loss.
In December 2024, after getting decimated by Joaquin Buckley at Fight Night, Colby Covington was seen helping a homeless man on camera.
Pereira may not have been engaging in dishonest gestures. But the optics and public opinion certainly didn’t work in his favor.
Ever since his loss against Ankalaev, Alex’s goodwill among fans seems to have waned a little. Though he remains popular, with the invincibility garb off, Pereira is finding critiques coming his way all too often.
While he was largely called out for the way he fought against the Russian, UFC commentator Joe Rogan did give Pereira the benefit of the doubt by attributing the loss to his reported norovirus infection and a broken hand.
“This is the same guy who had a messed-up toe against [Jiri] Prochazka and still got the job done. Dude’s a savage,” Rogan said on his podcast.
Weeks after the fight, Pereira also came out, stating that he wasn’t 100% going into the fight.
“Everybody has their issues. I had mine, and maybe he had his problems too, but what I can say is that my hand was fine. But many things happened,” the former champ told Ariel Helwani.
While he didn’t reveal much, the Brazilian claimed that this issue was serious enough for him to consider pulling out of UFC 313. The former champion also accused Ankalaev of winning by holding on to the cage and has since called for a change in MMA rules.
Pereira cries foul
In the lead-up to the fight, analysts like Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen had also predicted a below-par performance from Pereira. This came after the Brazilian was seen as a bit too casual with just two weeks to go for D-Day.
But then he has continued to question Ankalaev’s victory, dismissing a smart plan from the Dagestani fighter as a stalling ploy.
“I think we should change these rules,” Pereira told Helwani. “If a person puts another person on the fence, they have to be there hurting [their opponent]. But he [Ankalaev] did nothing”.
It should be noted that Ankalaev only held down Pereira in parts of the fourth and fifth rounds. The Russian dominated Pereira for at least two of the first three rounds with strikes.
