Last night at UFC 303, Alex Pereira defended his light heavyweight title for the second time in a rematch against former UFC lightweight heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka in the main event. Accepting the fight on short notice, Pereira rode the momentum from his win against Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 despite facing some injuries, which did not stop him from succeeding in his goal and solidifying his status as a face of UFC.

However, initially, the situation was different, as UFC CEO Dana White revealed in a post-event interview that he did not expect much from Alex Pereira.

Dana White’s initial doubts about Alex Pereira

Before his debut in the UFC, Alex Pereira was an established figure in the world of kickboxing, alongside his friend and rival Israel Adesanya. Pereira held an astonishing record of 33-7 with 21 knockouts and was a two-division champion at the GLORY kickboxing promotion until 2021. meanwhile, Alex Pereira is the only fighter to have been a two-division world champion in both MMA and kickboxing.

These above-mentioned impressive records were not enough to impress UFC CEO Dana White. When asked by a reporter after a post-fight conference whether he ever envisioned Alex Pereira and Dieogo Lopes becoming the face of the UFC, Dana White chuckled and replied, “It’s incredible, right? I mean, I didn’t think like that, especially when you have guys coming in from kickboxing who have had this long kickboxing career and are older coming into the UFC. I thought the opposite: ‘These guys are not going to do so well here’.”

White further added, “They’re going to get taken down, smashed, submitted, you know, all that stuff.’ But man, was I wrong.” It’s good that White acknowledged the value of Pereira. However, it’s not just the UFC who recognized Alex Pereira’s talent. ONE Championship’s two-sport ONE Bantamweight World Champion, Jonathan Haggerty, is also on the list of Pereira’s fans and wants to emulate him.

Jonathan Haggerty eyes MMA, following Pereira’s path

ONE Champion’s Jonathan Haggerty, also known as “The General,” is preparing for his upcoming Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title bout against Superlek Kiatmoo9, scheduled for ONE 168: Denver in September. In an interview with Sky Sports MMA Club in April, Haggerty revealed his ambition to shift from Muay Thai and Kickboxing to MMA, like Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya.

“The likes of Adesanya and Pereira, they were stand-up fighters and have gone on to be the greatest,” Haggerty said. “So, I have the stand-up skills, and we just need to work on the ground game and wrestling.” This isn’t the first time Jonathan Haggerty has expressed his admiration for Alex Pereira. In a past interview, he claimed that within a year or so, he plans to debut in MMA.

Furthermore, it is quite clear from Haggerty’s words that both fighters, Pereira and Adesanya, inspire him to follow the path of MMA. Also, Dana White’s decision to sign Pereira at the right time has proven to be wise. Meanwhile, after winning his light heavyweight fight against Jiri Prochazka, Pereira might want to take a little rest as there are no rumors about his upcoming fight. Stay tuned for further updates.