"He was a hero all along" - Fans shower praise on doting dad Alex Pereira for warm display of affection towards sons after UFC 303 win

Fans shared heartwarming reactions to the video of Alex Pereira leaving the octagon with his sons after his UFC 303 win over Jiri Prochazka. Despite being a scary fighter inside the cage, Pereira has often been described as a fun-loving and caring family man. His soothing demeanor with sons Alessandro and Lohan stands testimony to this.

Pereira's sons have often accompanied him to the fights and witnessed the ups and downs of their father's combat sports career. At UFC 303, 'Poatan' defeated Jiri Prochazka to secure the second defense of his light heavyweight title.

While he knocked Prochazka out viciously to end the rivalry with a perfect 2-0 score, Pereira's demeanor changed to that of a doting dad as he left the octagon with his sons by his side.

Check out the video below:

Fans took to the comments section of the video shared on Pereira's Instagram and shared heartwarming reactions:

"Amazing man, amazing dad!" pearlgonzalez commented.

"He came in the UFC as a villain but he was a hero all along. Chama," kingkennyslay commented.

"Best left hook father," czvictor666 commented.

"Little ones will follow their father's legacy," rafael_monteir00 commented.

"The best support is the family," zakariya0445 commented.

"The boys reaction had me in tears! CHAMA" lynleexb commented.

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When Alex Pereira lifted the spirits of his sons and teammates after devastating KO loss

Alex Pereira's fierce rivalry with his kickboxing archrival Israel Adesanya continued in the MMA realm. Pereira defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing and also snatched a come-from-behind win in MMA to win the UFC middleweight title at UFC 281.

However, Adesanya avenged the losses with a devastating knockout win over Pereira at UFC 287. Pereira's sons burst into tears following the loss and a similar emotional state was reflected in the locker room after the event.

While Pereira's teammates and his sons seemed disheartened with the outcome, 'Poatan' lifted their spirits with words of encouragement and urged them to have a positive outlook:

"I already left other teams and families sad like my sons are right now, all of the team. But that's it. It was like one day I said to my father when I lost in 2012. After my first loss as a professional fighter, my father got sick. So I said to him, 'Father, how many times have I left other families and teams sad and we were laughing? Now is our time to rethink.' So, dude, I'm okay with it right now."

Check out Alex Pereira's comments below (0:17):

Pereira bounced back from the loss in a big way and captured the UFC light heavyweight title a few months after the defeat to become the first combat sports athlete to capture two divisional titles in two separate sports.