Alex Pereira’s Headdress and Face Paint: What Does It Mean? Is It Connected to His Brazilian Tribal Roots?

Alex Pereira is currently one of the most celebrated fighters in the UFC right. He’s put on some of the most exciting performances, with knockouts after knockouts, reigning supreme as the light heavyweight champion. Well, there’s an interesting thing about the light-heavyweight champion, it’s his tribal identity that he embraces. During the ceremonial weigh-ins right before Pereira’s win at UFC 281, the fighter had donned amazing colors on his face and combined it with a headdress- Pereira looked otherworldly. It was nothing like what fans had seen before.

Alex Pereira is a Brazilian fighter, and he knows how to stay connected to his roots. In doing so, he put up a show of intimidation against Israel Adesanya, during their rivalry, both inside and outside of the cage. The Brazilian roots lie in a tribal community. He has shown a love for his roots many times with his face paint and headdress, which symbolizes his connections with the Pataxo tribe, found in the Bahia region in his native country. His tattoos too are a symbol of his origins. Pereira has previously spoken about how finding out about his roots has made him feel better about himself in the cage, which has further made him want to invoke his ancestors and want to honor his background.

“When I first started to train in kickboxing, my first teacher had indigenous roots. I went home the same day and asked my mom. She said my grandparents were indigenous.” Pereira had once said, adding, “It made me feel more confident. We wanted to resurrect my origins and indigenous culture. I made a ritual with the bow and arrow. Then a sequence with the indigenous music and that’s how it started.”

One by one, he kept introducing more and more symbols of his roots to his professional life- the walkout, the tattoos, and then, the whole getup. ‘Poatan’ too, in fact, is a name that comes from similar roots. It’s the Tupi-Guarani name that means ‘Stone Hands’. Meanwhile, the question that most fans are wondering is if Pereira will continue to bring his roots to the next weigh-ins. Well, let’s have a discussion on that front.

More about Alex Pereira’s Brazilian roots

The light-heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira has a very deep connection to his Brazilian roots, mainly his Indigenous heritage. What many might not know is the fact that Pereira is a descendant of the Pataxó tribe, an indigenous group in Brazil known for their rich cultural heritage. The Pataxó community lives in͏ th͏͏e ͏͏Amazon forest, with͏ ͏a population of abo͏u͏t͏ 1͏2,͏0͏͏00͏.

They s͏peak Po͏rtu͏gu͏ese, ͏a͏͏long ͏with a modern͏ variatio͏n͏ of ͏thei͏r anci͏e͏nt͏ la͏nguage. Alex Pere͏ira, also͏ kn͏ow͏n ͏as ͏”Poatan͏,”͏ has a u͏niq͏ue ͏c͏͏onnection with Ind͏ig͏enou͏s people͏͏, as demo͏nstr͏ated by his walkout, where he pe͏rform͏s͏ a r͏itual with a bow an͏d arrow. P͏er͏e͏ira ͏ai͏ms t͏o ͏use the ͏g͏lobal͏ pl͏atf͏orm to r͏a͏ise aw͏a͏r͏eness a͏bou͏t the strugg͏l͏͏es of his I͏ndi͏geno͏us comm͏͏uni͏ty͏ in B͏razi͏l͏.

Regardless, what is your take on Alex Pereira as a fighter? State your thoughts in the comments below.