When Alex Pereira Gave Away His Stone Cold Image For a Rare Pokémon Moment- “Matches My Pants”

Alex Pereira is known for three things. The first is his rivalry with Israel Adesanya, which goes back to their kickboxing days. The second is his immense power, which is known to make opponents flinch with shots on their guard, earning him the moniker ‘Poatan’ (hands of stone). And the third is his serious, stone-faced persona. The Brazilian is so serious that he does not even celebrate his victories, choosing to walk around menacingly in the cage after knocking his opponents out.

This has given rise to the meme of fans using the (literally and figuratively) stone-faced Moai head emoji to refer to him. However, there are a few, exceptional times where he finds it hard to keep a straight face. One was on his vacation to Germany before the Blachowicz fight when he met a short, bald man whom he introduced to his fans as ‘Volkanovski’. To be fair that gentleman did bear an uncanny resemblance to featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. And as he gears up to fight for the 205-pound title in one of the most important fights in his career, let us take a look at the other time Poatan broke character.

Alex Pereira surprises reporters with cartoon jacket

Prior to his UFC 287 rematch against Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira was seen sporting a denim jacket with Pikachu emblazoned on the back. Many initially saw it as the Brazilian taking a shot at Adesanya for the latter’s love for anime.

However, this turned out not to be the case. Asked by reporters why he was wearing a Pikachu jacket, the former two-division Glory champion made said it was simply because it looked good. He revealed it had been given to him by a fan before the press conference and he put it on because it complemented his outfit.

“Honestly, somebody just gifted it to me ten minutes ago. I liked it, I thought it was cool, and it matched my pants. Nothing set up, I really just got this ten minutes ago, and I think it matches my pants,” a beaming Pereira said.

Pereira had defeated old rival Adesanya in an upset to become the middleweight champion at UFC 281 last year. However, their rematch did not go the Brazilian’s way as he fell into a brilliant trap set by Adesanya and got knocked out in the second round.

He moved to the light heavyweight division soon after as he had been finding the weight cut to 185 too taxing. After an underwhelming split-decision victory over Jan Blachowicz earlier this year, he will face another brilliant striker for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 295 on November 11.

Pereira-Prochazka for the light heavyweight title to headline UFC 295

Jiri Prochazka had defeated Pereira’s coach, friend, and mentor Glover Teixeira at UFC 275 for the light heavyweight title. However, a shoulder injury soon after caused him to vacate the title. And now Pereira will have the opportunity to avenge Teixeira in the iconic Madison Square Garden.

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Stylistically, the matchup looks to be a thrilling and electrifying affair. Prochazka has a dynamic and almost artistic style with his own personal idiosyncrasies. And Pereira is considered one of the greatest kickboxers of all time. He dominated Glory with numerous title defenses and was also the first and only two-division champion in its history.

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