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Joe Rogan recently broke down how Alex Pereira fast-tracked his way to the UFC championship. In less than three years, Pereira became a two-division champion, going from being a feared kickboxer to one of MMA’s most respected champions.
Recalling Pereira's UFC debut, Rogan claimed that he told Daniel Cormier straight away that he was the guy to watch out. His claim turned out to be true, as Pereira became the UFC middleweight champion at UFC 281 against Israel Adesanya in only his fourth fight for the organization.
After dropping the middleweight title to Adesanya in their rematch at UFC 287, he moved up and captured the light heavyweight crown within a year. Rogan spoke about Pereira's rise in episode #2337 of his podcast with singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony. He said:
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"The best example of a quick rise to the top is Alex Pereira, but Alex Pereira is one of the greatest kickboxers of all time. When he entered the UFC, a lot of people were completely unaware of him, but me, as a giant kickboxing fan, I was like, when this f*cker comes over here, bodies are going to drop. I remember Daniel Cormier saying to me, ‘Really?’ and I said, ‘Dude, I’m telling you.’ I pointed to him in his debut and said, ‘That’s the f*cking boogeyman of boogeymen. He knocks people into orbit.’ I showed him videos of Pereira’s kickboxing fights and he was like, ‘Holy s***.’ I said, ‘Everybody he touches, he’s got the touch of death."
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He added:
"Then he started steamrolling people. Knocked out Strickland in one round. His first UFC fight, he hit that dude with a flying knee and just sent him into orbit. Within three years, he was a two-division world champion, which is nuts. Nobody’s done that before. Defended the light heavyweight title multiple times. He’s only been fighting MMA for five or six years."
Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (2:36:26):
When Joe Rogan broke down why Alex Pereira’s striking works at the highest level
Joe Rogan pointed to Alex Pereira as the perfect example of a striking specialist who can thrive in the UFC. According to him, fighters who rely too heavily on jiu-jitsu often struggle against world-class strikers, especially when they lack the technical tools on the feet.
Pereira, on the other hand, uses elite takedown defense to keep fights standing, where he’s most dangerous. Speaking on episode #2292 of The Joe Rogan Experience, he said:
"You can kind of be a specialist if you're a striker. A striker, like, there [are] few guys that can pull it off if they're really strong and they have good takedown defense. Like Pereira is the best example, right? Two-division world champion kickboxer comes over, dominates, becomes a two-division UFC champion as a striker because every fight starts standing up."
Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (42:20):
