When Dana White announced the replacement fight for UFC 303 between  Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka, everyone was both shocked and impressed. Shocked because Conor McGregor had to withdraw last moment due to an injury, and impressed because Pereira, who just fought UFC 300 accepted the fight on such short notice.

Dana White had kept faith in ‘Poatan’ during  UFC 300 when fans were doubtful and Pereira won against Jamahal Hill. This time too, White has full faith in the light heavyweight champ.

Alex Pereira gets praised by Dana White.

In the latest video from UFC, Pereira displayed his confidence and diligence in the UFC 303 press conference after which he went backstage. Surprisingly the shower of praise did not end with the audience. Dana White was elated and complimented Poatan. White said, “This is why the people love him so much. This is why people react the way they do. One day to come back to Australia, came to take and save this fight.” The boss even hugged the UFC star and patted him on his shoulder while thanking him for accepting the fight on such short notice.

Even Pereira’s coach was showing the youngsters in his camp how to become a legend and showed Pereira as an example. He said, “ This is the type of thing that builds a legend.” Finally, ‘Poatan’ spoke about his feelings and said that the talk with White was good and that the head honcho said good things about him.

This is not the first time he has willingly stepped up to save the day. Previously during UFC 295 and UFC 300, he did the same. Now Dana White has also saved his grace especially when Jiri Prochazka decided to accuse Pereira of using “magic”. The ex-champion who was KO-ed by Pereira when they first fought in November called his rival using ‘magic and shamans’.

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Nevertheless, White appreciated this ritual and said that he liked the fact that these practices that Pereira did from his heritage made the rivalry between the fighters even more intense. Not only that, but White had praised Pereira before as well.

Dana White praises  Alex Pereira as the biggest star

During UFC 295, ‘Poatan’ saved the card by not only defeating Prochazka but also helping UFC make a gate of $12.4 million which was just near Mcgregor’s achievement of $17.7 million. He appeared in the ESPN Hot Take and agreed with Stephen A Smith when the latter spoke about Pereira and said that he was a star. White also stated that ‘Poatan’ was a box office attraction. This time too, he showed his impact by taking the fight and saving UFC 303.

White was impressed and praised the fighter and said, “When you think about Brazil, Brazil is where it all started… There have always been these huge stars that have come out of Brazil. He [Alex Pereira] is the new big star for Brazil.”

Pereira is the first and only fighter to win middleweight and light heavyweight titles in 2 years and 7 fights. So it might not be all that surprising that Dana White has full faith in him. But do you?