Alex Pereira stands on the same pedestal as Mike Tyson, according to Glover Teixeira. The UFC light heavyweight champ, Alex Pereira’s pro-MMA career may just be nine fights old. But the accolades he has achieved testify to his awesome in-octagon prowess. ‘Poatan’s’ mentor and former UFC light heavyweight champ, Glover Teixeira, recently counted his disciple among the sport’s greats in the luck of the success he had achieved in such a short time. Lately, the 44-year-old appeared on an episode of ‘Shak MMA’ where he even compared Pereira with a few sporting legends like Mike Tyson, LeBron James and others.
The Pataxó tribe member kicked off his pro-MMA career in 2015. However, he took a three-year-long hiatus from the sport after this third fight in May 2016 and returned to his native sport of kickboxing. Pereira continued enjoying success at ‘Glory’ kickboxing during this period as he bagged the ‘Glory’ middleweight championship for the second time in 2019. However, fate had him returning to the cage in 2020.
Pereira’s golden run in MMA started with his UFC induction in 2021. The Brazilian may have tasted his first defeat against archrival, Israel Adesanya, but he has also crowned himself as the king of the UFC Light Heavyweight division, with the championship still under his possession. These were probably the reasons why Teixeira didn’t refrain from comparing his disciple to even ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’. Reflecting on the same, he said,
“He [Pereira] is a great in the sport. When I was a kid, we talked about Mike Tyson. Let’s go into basketball, LeBron James. [Similarly] We’re just around here with one of the greats in Mixed Martial Arts [Pereira].”
Well, Pereira’s achievements might trump the legendary ‘Iron’s’ accolades as well. Tyson never was a two-sport champion like the Brazilian. But he will probably be looking for something more than a victory in his upcoming fight at UFC 300.
Alex Pereira may have his eyes on avenging Glover Teixeira’s loss in his UFC 300 fight
The year 2023 started with a lackluster event for the UFC. The first PPV of 2023, UFC 283, failed to impress the fans as they broke out into an absolute chaos. However, the event also proved to be an untoward one for Glover Teixeira as he suffered a defeat against Pereira’s scheduled UFC 300 rival, Jamahal Hill. However, the looks that Pereira and Hill exchanged after the UFC 283 main event indicated that a fight between these two may be an absolute barnburner.
And now, when the coveted encounter is just a few days away, it’s quite apparent that ‘Poatan’ will not only prioritize defending his UFC light heavyweight gold title with a victory against Hill at UFC 300. But he also might have a plan of avenging his mentor’s loss at the back of his mind.
