Alex Pereira has been a revelation to MMA fans since he joined the UFC and went through two divisions defeating some of the biggest names in the company. But even before that, he was a kickboxing world champion in Glory! That’s two sports, he’s been at the top of, something even the great Michael Jordan couldn’t do.
Sharing his thoughts on the Good Guy/ Bad Guy podcast to his co-host Daniel Cormier, Chael Sonnen revealed how ‘Poatan’ has now outclassed the great MJ.
“We’ve seen great athletes try to switch. Michael Jordan himself tried to switch sports and came over to baseball, Pereira switching from kickboxing to MMA as much as people love to go, ‘Ah, shucks, they’re the same thing.’ No, they’re not! They’re so vastly and widely different, he is literally a two-sport athlete and he did it at 34 years old!”
The former Chicago Bulls star announced his retirement on October 6, 1993. While that news was a shocker for many, he upped the ante by signing a Minor League Baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox on February 7, 1994.
However, he did not have the intended result and reverted to the NBA in 1995. On the contrary, Pereira who transitioned from Kickboxing did more than anyone could’ve ever imagined, becoming one of the top stars in the promotion racking up two titles within two years.
In fact, even the promotion’s head Dana White was blown away by the Brazilian’s performance and heaped praise on him after UFC 307.
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Former Glory two-division champion, Alex Pereria quite literally saved a rather underwhelming card, essentially transforming it into a thriller.
Unlike the rest of UFC’s events which had the CEO hand out four bonuses, UFC 307 had just three, meaning that the card was fairly decision-filled including the co-main event.
However, Pereira brought the fire and the fury to the main event. Despite the early test from Khalil Rountree Jr., who looked on par with the champion, Pereira steamrolled the challenger once the bout crossed the halfway mark and dispatched him with brutal shots.
In fact, with this performance, Pereira has now defended his throne a total of three times in a span of seven months. Reflecting on this fact, the promotional head, Dana White had nothing but praise for the champion.
“What this guy has done is unbelievable. And the way that he’s done it, this guy destroys everybody. … This guy always wants to fight. He’s (37), too – it’s not like he’s 28 and he’s got this many fights (left). But we’ll see how it all plays out.”
Hopefully, Poatan takes that well-deserved break, travels to Korea and everywhere else he wants to travel, and hopefully in a few months time, fans can watch him fight Magomed Ankalaev.
