Shamans and voodoo practices entered the world of mixed martial arts when Jiri Prochazka accused Alex Pereira of engaging in shamanic rituals to win his fights. Of course, if we take a look at the Brazilian’s performance in the Octagon, his strength and knockout power can’t be paralleled by many. About 2 months later, Joe Rogan forced ‘Denisa’ to revisit his comments about Pereira’s involvement in black magic. But how far is that from the truth? Well, ‘Poatan’ has finally come forth with his response to it all. 

During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on 27 January 2025, the famed MMA reporter threw the big question at Pereira. He wondered about the source that pushed Prochazka to believe that the Brazilian was engaged in magic. And did Pereira actually get himself involved in shamanic rituals? The light heavyweight champ replied, “All respect to him but no, man. I’m a God-fearing man. I have God in my heart. This guy just put these things, but we never participated in any of those things. We’re regular people.” Pereira took on a sarcastic tone, grabbed a doll, and took its hands back. He said that if he tied the doll’s hands and feet together before fighting his opponent, “that’s gonna work.” 

Nevertheless, the man with the hands of stone had a suggestion for a third bout against ‘The Czech Samurai’. He claimed that if Prochazka and everyone else put aside the talks about magic and focused solely on fighting, they’d give the crowd “a much better fight.” Pereria even revealed the kind of opponents he wanted to go up against. And of course, they were the ones who weren’t cheating or making excuses. 

Alex Pereira continued, “I don’t want to fight guys who are cheating, no… I want to fight them at their prime.” He simply wanted to fight someone who believed that he could beat the light heavyweight champion. “And I want to fight people at their best, there’s no reason to talk about this kind of stuff.” These talks had already died down back in June 2024 after Pereira knocked Jiri Prochazka out cold. But it all came tumbling back at the Brazilian when Joe Rogan decided to dive back into the world of shamans and magic. 

Joe Rogan and Jiri Prochazka revisit comments about Alex Pereira’s alleged black magic practices

Rogan invited ‘Denisa’ to the set of the JRE MMA Show on episode #165. Needless to say, as the 2-hour-long discussion was coming to an end, the 57-year-old asked, “But you believed that there was magic working against you?” Initially, Prochazka tried to avoid the question. But he had nowhere left to go. ‘The Czech Samurai’ said, “I don’t want to speak about that fully because it is something that I am humble for. I can’t say this is it because everyone has their own way and nobody is, even me, prepared to say something for somebody.” Prochazka refused to talk about magic and how to use it. But it turned out that he believed black magic was the greatest power that Pereira had because it made ‘Denisa’ focus on his opponent and not on himself. 

However, the JRE host pressed on. He argued, “That’s where the black magic lies. But is it magic? Or is it just his presence as a champion?” Rogan claimed that ‘Poatan’ had an aura that champions usually have. Fighters like Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva had that aura, which made their opponents doubt themselves. The UFC color commentator quoted, “It probably seems like black magic but maybe it’ just a mental edge.”

“You know what Jiri said about the whole JuJu thing, like that? That’s real. That’s real,” Adesanya had told Rogan on JRE MMA Show #164. That was the reason, according to ‘Izzy’ that Pereira was able to rally back at UFC 281 and then a few years before that in Brazil during their kickboxing days.

Prochazka finally admitted that Rogan’s words carried the truth. He said, “That was something I made [up], that was something [that] I really [took] to another level, yeah.” Now, the former light heavyweight champion needed to focus on his own strength. After all, Pereira’s aura and talks about his shamanic powers would simply lower his own confidence. And that could cost him the fight like it did back at UFC 303.

Do you think Pereira actually took part in mystical rituals to win? What effects do you think such talks had on his opponents? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.