Top 10 Moments in Alex Pereira's Kickboxing Career
Alexsandro Pereira earned UFC gold with a come-from-behind 5th-round knockout over #3 pound-for-pound Israel Adesanya in November 2022. Fight fans are incredibly familiar with seeing Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya now, as the 2 men have met 3 times already, twice within the kickboxing circuit and once in MMA, with all victories going to the Pereira side. With that said, the 2 victories (1 by knockout) against Israel Adesanya in kickboxing are not the most impressive things he did in the sport.
With their 2nd meeting in MMA for the Middleweight title this weekend, let us look at the top 10 moments in Alex Pereira's kickboxing career.
10. Def. Dustin Jacoby by knockout and def. Sahak Parparyan by majority decision to win Glory Contender Middleweight Tournament
We rarely see a one-night tournament in combat sports nowadays, but back in 2014, that is precisely what Alex Pereira had to endure to win his first Glory tournament.
The 4-man tournament at Glory 14 began with Sahak Parparyan defeating Jason Wilnis by split decision and Alex Pereira defeating current UFC contender Dustin Jacoby by first-round knockout with his famous left hook, advancing both men to the finale in the co-main event spot. The finale saw Pereira do enough for 2 of the 3 ringside judges to give him the victory, with the third having it even. This win would earn Pereira entry into the Glory Middleweight title tournament and moved him to 13-1 as a kickboxer.
9. Def. Maycon Silva by knockout to defend WGP title
WGP Kickboxing is the most prominent kickboxing association in Latin-American, and over his career, Alex Pereira became very familiar with the promotion. Alex became WGP Champion at WGP Kickboxing 25 when he faced César Almeida for the vacant 85kg (187lbs) title, but his run in WGP didn't stop there. Alex would have one non-title bout against Junior Alpha, ending in a knockout victory for Pereira, before ending his career inside WGP with a successful title defense against Maycon Silva with his hellish left hook.
Pereira would end his WGP Kickboxing run at 11-1 with 6 KO/TKOs.
8. Def. Simon Marcus by unanimous decision to become Glory Middleweight Champion
In October 2017, Alex Pereira received his first opportunity to fight for a Glory world title against then-champion Simon Marcus. Pereira looked incredible throughout the fight, even dropping the champion in the second round. Pereira looked unbeatable in every frame of the contest, even landing a jumping knee in the final round that solidified his dominant victory. The 5 judges all scored the bout in favor of Pereira (48-46, 48-46, 49-45, 49-45, and 50-44) to win him a unanimous decision and the Glory Middleweight championship.
7. Def. Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision
Alex Pereira met Israel Adesanya for the first time at Glory of Heroes 1 in Shenzhen, China.
The fight began highly contested, with Adesanya landing more frequently, but it was Pereira landing the much more powerful shots. As we know, damage scores higher for judges, and it seemed Pereira had landed the more damaging shots in the first 2 rounds. Adesanya did come out in the final round looking the fresher of the pair and had a successful round. However, with 2 rounds in the bank, Pereira had done enough to win the unanimous decision.
All three judges gave the fight to Pereira, 29-28.
6. Def. Israel Adesanya by knockout in the 2017 Combat Press Fight of the Year
After a lot of bad blood and trash talk between the 2, a rematch was booked one year following their first meeting.
Israel Adesanya began to get vocal, believing he did enough to win their first bout; however, Alex Pereira stayed stone-faced.
The kickboxing rematch ended up eerily similar to their first meeting in MMA; Adesanya rocked Pereira early, and Pereira got the knockout late in the fight. However, a significant difference is that in kickboxing, Pereira was given a standing count as Adesanya couldn't drop the Brazilian; the referee intervened on the feet and gave Pereira the count to make sure he could still fight. Nevertheless, Pereira survived and landed his signature left hook, which knocked Adesanya out cold. This exciting bout would earn the pair the Fight of the Year from Combat Press, one of the biggest MMA/kickboxing websites.
This fight is still Adesanya's only knockout loss in kickboxing and, recently, his only knockout loss in MMA.
5. Def. Yousri Belgaroui by knockout for second Middleweight title defense
After losing to Yousri Belgaroui at the start of 2017, Alex Pereira returned in the rematch in a big way, finishing the Tunisian fighter by doctor stoppage in his first Glory title defense.
The pair would meet again for a third time following Pereira's stoppage win. This time, Pereira would end the trilogy emphatically by knockout in the first round to secure his second Glory Middleweight title defense.
Belgaroui would only fight 5 more times in kickboxing before transitioning to MMA, where he is currently 5-2 and fought in February 2023.
This exciting trilogy might have ended in kickboxing, but I wouldn't be surprised if the 2 men met again in the UFC.
4. Def. Donegi Abena by knockout to win Glory Interim Light Heavyweight title
After 4 straight title defenses, Alex Pereira was awarded a chance to become the first Glory kickboxer to hold 2 titles simultaneously, with the Interim Light Heavyweight title on the line against Donegi Abena of Suriname.
Pereira would dominate his opponent and end it in the third round with his patented left hook, leaving Abena face down on the canvas floor.
This win is one of the biggest of his career, considering Abena had just come off a razor-close loss to the Light Heavyweight champion Artem Vakhitov, and Pereira was moving up in weight.
Now an Interim Light Heavyweight champion and a dominant Middleweight champion, Pereira eagerly awaited his shot to unify his belts.
3. Def. Jason Wilnis by knockout for fourth Glory Middleweight title defense
Before fighting for double champion status, Alex Pereira faced long-time rival Jason Wilnis, the 2 men had fought twice before, and both victories had gone to Wilnis. Wilnis was also the first man to finish Pereira, something only he and Artur Kyshenko would accomplish in kickboxing.
A title defense over one of the most formidable challengers of Pereira's career was inevitable. For Pereira to redeem his loss to Wilnis would work wonders for the confidence of the young fighter.
Pereira came out strong, looking to dominate the man who had beaten him twice. But, ultimately, Pereira's power and determination to get the finish proved too much for Wilnis, as Pereira connected with the flying knee in round 1, rendering Wilnis unable to continue.
This win would mark 4-straight title defenses for the Brazilian.
2. Def. Ertugrul Bayrak by knockout for fifth and final Glory Middleweight title defense
Following a career-defining moment where Alex Pereira became the first Glory double champion, he found himself waiting to unify his title against Light Heavyweight champion Artem Vakhitov. But, instead of waiting, Pereira opted to face Ertugrul Bayrak in his fifth and final title defense at Middleweight.
Pereira's punching power was too much for Bayrak over the entire first round; with the round coming to a close in what appeared to be a clear Pereira round, Pereira landed his mighty left hook as soon as the bell for round 1 sounded. This one punch was enough to knock Bayrak out cold and earn him a final title defense, totaling 5.
With this win, Pereira made it 8 wins in a row with 6 KO/TKOs.
1. Def. Artem Vakhitov by split decision to become a unified double champion
After a fifth and final successful title defense at Middleweight, Alex Pereira finally got his shot to unify his Interim title and become a true double champion. But the challenge ahead of him was no easy one.
Pereira faced dominant Light Heavyweight champion Artem Vakhitov, who was on 5 title defenses of his own. The fight was highly contested, with both men having success throughout the bout. This fight was difficult to score for everyone watching; there was an argument for either man getting their hand raised. The judges' scorecards were seemingly all over the place also, with one judge scoring the bout 50-45 for Vakhitov, but in the end, 3 of the 5 judges had scored the fight for Pereira, winning him the split decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47 Pereira, and 50-45, 49-46 Vakhitov.)
Pereira would have one final kickboxing fight following his successful attempt at the unified Light Heavyweight title in a rematch with Vakhitov, ultimately losing his newly minted championship before moving to MMA full-time
Alex Pereira's kickboxing record currently sits at 33-7 with 21 knockouts.
Can Alex Pereira record a 4th win against Israel Adesanya? Catch Alex Pereira in his next fight against former UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya this weekend to find out.
