Alex Pereira is undeniably among the most popular personalities in the UFC today and is widely known for his incredible striking skills. Apart from his fighting talents and professional resume, the Brazilian has also become a fan-favorite MMA star thanks to his stoic yet charismatic personality.Pereira is set to face Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320 this weekend at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ahead of this highly anticipated title fight rematch, the Brazilian has shaved his head clean as he usually does before his fights. Given that 'Poatan' routinely follows this practice, many have wondered why he does so.Why does Alex Pereira cut his hair ahead of UFC fights?Alex Pereira has shaved his head heading into his UFC fights. Given that many have questioned why he goes bald before fights, he explained why before his rematch against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 in June 2024.In an episode of the UFC 303 Embedded vlog series (#4), Pereira detailed how he aims to look meaner to his opponents in the days leading up to the fight and how going bald helps him look better on camera. He said:"I'm going to have the photo shoot tomorrow. That's why I'm having my hair cut today. With this hair, I look like a good guy. It doesn't work. It's good now. They shaved my head. Now they applied a face mask, to make my skin look better, and so I can look good on TV. I need to be ready for war. Chama."Catch Alex Pereira's explanation below (7:50):Pereira is going into his rematch against Ankalaev this weekend off the back of a decisive unanimous decision defeat against the Dagestani fighter in their first fight that took place at UFC 313. The former two-division champion has a professional record of 12-3, with ten of those wins coming via knockout.Meanwhile, Ankalaev has a professional record of 20-1-1-1NC, with ten wins coming by way of knockout. He is riding a 14-fight unbeaten streak, He suffered the only loss of his professional MMA career against Paul Craig in his UFC debut in March 2018.