Alex Pereira sent an uproar in the fighting community with his back-to-back wins by finishes. His last fight against Jiri Prochazka shocked the entire MMA fanbase as Pereira sent the Czech Samurai to the dream world with a stunning show leg. Before that, he dropped Jamahall Hill in the very first round with a hard punch. Pereira’s fighting prowess has taken him to the point where he is being compared to pretty big names like Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. After all, it was the ‘Poatan’ who replaced McGregor at UFC 303 and took the crowd’s excitement pretty high. He is even considered to be in the category of Anderson Silva, because soon, fighters are going to be afraid of taking on the Brazilian champ.

The Brazilian’s skills indeed impressed the fight fans, yet that impression was considerably amplified when the fans were made aware of Pereira’s injuries. Nevertheless, he didn’t expect to hear words of praise directly from the UFC CEO, Dana White himself. 

Alex Pereira surprised at Dana White’s praise

‘Poatan’ took to his YouTube channel and released a video on the 13th of July, 2024, to let the world know about the behind-the-scenes talks for UFC 300. He declared that he was indeed injured with broken toes before the fight. This unfortunate injury resulted in missed training sessions for about 30 days. The light heavyweight champ soon recovered enough to hop onto the canvas again. 

The man with the hands of stone seemed to think of UFC 300 as a pretty exciting and necessary opportunity. He is already 37 years old and we all know what that means, even for a champ. Hence, he did not pass on the chance to glory and decided to defend his LHW championship belt yet again! And of course, the money also played a part in the decision- a whopping $2.8 million. But it was White’s praise that pushed Pereira forward.

‘Poatan’ said, “Dana White praised me, saying what I did was incredible. He was very happy. He went out of his way to say that to my face. That motivated me, made me more happy. For him to have that recognition for me in that moment. We have to be aware of opportunities. It’s what I did. It’s what I’ll continue to do, training, being prepared, for any other opportunity.”

It’s pretty rare for White to break character, don’t you think? The UFC head honcho seemed to have put a lot of faith in the ‘Poatan’. Following his win at UFC 300, taking up a fight at UFC 303 despite an injury with people doubting him greatly impressed White. The UFC CEO didn’t forget to praise the LHW champ at the press conference for UFC 303. But little did people expect that he would continue the praise backstage, as well.

Dana White deems the ‘Poatan’ as the biggest star

UFC 303 witnessed one of the craziest developments ever. Even though multiple fights fell out and the main event was set within just a couple of weeks, it was indeed one of the most successful events in UFC history. Without a doubt, part of the credit goes to Pereira’s stardom and fighting prowess. Dana White took note of it in his praise for Pereira at the backstage for UFC 303 post-fight press conference. He said, “This is why the people love him so much. This is why people react the way they do. One day to come back to Australia, came to take and save this fight.”

White further lifted the Brazilian as the new big star. He said, “When you think about Brazil, Brazil is where it all started… There have always been these huge stars that have come out of Brazil. He [Alex Pereira] is the new big star for Brazil.”

With Pereira’s phenomenal record in the world of mixed martial arts, White’s reaction seems pretty justified. Do you think White went out of his way to praise him? Or does the ‘Poatan’ deserve it? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.