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Alex Pereira first walked into a kickboxing gym at the age of 21, a decision that turned his life around and saved him from the grip of alcoholism.
Per a Glory article by John O'Regan, the Brazilian quit school at the age of 12 and got himself a job at a tire shop, where the crew ran on a steady flow of iced cachaças - a Brazilian rum. At first repelled, Pereira was soon drinking a liter of the beverage every day by the age of 16, along with a few bottles of beer as well.
Alex Pereira recently spoke about the same on Fabricio Werdum's Nem Me Viu podcast:
"At that time when I was really lost, I used to drink almost one liter [of alcohol] a day. I had... kind of a ritual. Until 12 pm, I used to drink 3 cachaças [Brazilian drink]. At 10 am, at 11 am and another one at noon... I had no financial condition. I liked beer, but damn, I had no money."
Pereira went on to explain how he would sometimes take payments in the form of pre-paid drinks from his employers instead of actual money. He would also drink back-to-back, worrying that he wouldn't get to have another anytime soon.
Combat sports helped him tackle his struggle with alcoholism and overcome it enough to the point where he can talk about it on podcasts. However, the transition did not happen overnight:
"Until recently, I was kind of afraid, ashamed... But today, I see the need for it. Because, how many people are suffering from alcohol or drug problems? Not only directly, but also the family. So today, people have the opportunity to know where they can be saved. In sports. It doesn't matter if it's kickboxing, MMA, soccer, or whatever, you know?"
Watch Alex Pereira's video subtitled by Brazilian MMA Legends YouTube channel below:
When Alex Pereira first realized that his drinking problem was an addiction
Although 'Poatan' started training to help with this alcoholism, the addiction took its sweet time to leave his life.
Alex Pereira realized that he was addicted when he wanted to stop but could not. The Sao Paulo native would try to quit drinking but would only last a month or two at most, sometimes six. In his fourth attempt, he was able to successfully walk away, per a 2020 MMA Fighting interview:
"It was an addiction. We’re in that moment, drinking, and we say, 'I’ll stop when I want to.' I had that in my mind. I decided to stop, it was time to stop, but I couldn’t, and that’s when I realized it was ugly."
Pereira admitted that he still gets urges when he sees other people drinking. But he chooses to stay away since he believes he's incapable of stopping at one or two servings.
What keeps him on the right track is the fear of disappointing his family and losing everything he has accomplished so far, and is yet to achieve in his MMA career.
Alex Pereira won the UFC middleweight title from former kickboxing foe Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 and has now moved up in weight after losing it to 'The Last Stylebender' in the immediate rematch. He will face former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka for the vacant 205 lbs title at UFC 295 PPV event set to take place on November 11. Recently, 'Poatan' was also inducted in the Glory Hall of Fame.
