Published 02/23/2023, 6:45 AM MST
Alex Pereira‘s dominance in the UFC is well-documented. The UFC middleweight champion has a long history with kickboxing counterpart Israel Adesanya. His rivalry with the former champion is what is the selling point of his fights in the UFC. Furthermore, ‘Poatan’ has impressed fans all throughout the world with his fights in the UFC. However, many don’t know the story behind the former kickboxing champion’s rise into MMA. Moreover, Alex Pereira is also close to his Brazilian counterparts in the UFC and one of them has shared a story about him.
Former UFC fighter Rodrigo Nogueira has shared a story about Pereira. Some interesting insight into his subsequent joining of the UFC was revealed in his latest interview about how ‘Poatan’ was introduced to Dana White.
Rodrigo Nogueira shares his story of discovering Alex Pereira
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‘Minotauro’ spoke about the old days when he met the UFC middleweight champion. The former UFC heavyweight revealed that he didn’t hear of ‘Poatan’.
Former UFC fighter Rodrigo Nogueira revealed how he came to discover. He said, “I had the chance to meet Poatan on the recordings of the program ‘Viver para Lutar’, in Amsterdam. When I went to do the kickboxing part, I met some people. One of GLORY’s directors said: ‘Aren’t you going to talk to Poatan?’ and I didn’t know him. I had never seen him fight. I went to see him beat the gauntlet and called some friends in Brazil who said he was a phenomenon.”
‘Minotauro’ revealed what ‘Poatan’ said to him
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The Brazilian fighter spoke to his compatriot before he joined the UFC. ‘Minotauro’ said that it was Pereira‘s desire to fight in the UFC and MMA. Moreover, he added while narrating the incident, “He leaned against me and said: ‘I want to fight MMA. I want to fight in the UFC”.
Furthermore, the former UFC fighter revealed, “He went to visit the UFC office a few months later, I introduced him to Jorge Guimarães and Ed Soares. We made that connection and later he met Anderson Silva. He fought in the LFA. One day, I was in Abu Dhabi when Adesanya beat Borrachinha and Dana said: ‘No one can beat this guy in striking’. And I, in the middle of the conversation, said: ‘I have the guy. I have someone’. Poatan’s name came up and people started to follow him until he made his entry (in the organization)”.
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The rest as they say is history. The Brazilian went on to become the UFC middleweight champion in 2022. Let us know what you think about ‘Minotauro’s comments.
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