Who Has Alex Pereira Lost To? The UFC Champ’s Record, Losses, Title Defenses, and More

Nicknamed ‘Poatan’, Portuguese for ‘Stone Hands’, Alex Pereira possesses tremendous power. This makes his opponents flinch with even strikes on their guard. He developed this elite striking pedigree during his illustrious kickboxing career. And this helped catapult him to becoming the middleweight and later the light heavyweight champion of the UFC.

‘Poatan’ has been a busy customer in 2024. Having won the light heavyweight title last year, he has defended his title twice already and now he’s back for a third time in 6 months against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307. Fans are excited about this matchup and many believe Rountree Jr. could fell the Brazilian giant. Is that true? What does history tell us, and by history, we mean Pereira’s record?

Who has Alex Pereira lost to in his MMA career?

‘Poatan’ has lost two fights and won eight in his ten-fight mixed martial arts career. The first came against Quemuel Ottoni on his MMA debut at Jungle Fight 82 in 2015. Ottoni was able to submit him in the third round via a rear naked choke. This was a loss in his first MMA fight for the Brazilian, which was also his first pro-MMA bout. His second loss, however, is much more famous and interesting, coming at the hands of long-time rival Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 last year.

Adesanya and Pereira first met in the ring during their kickboxing days. Pereira was able to defeat the Kiwi star in both of their kickboxing encounters. He continued his winning streak against ‘Izzy’ in their first MMA encounter at UFC 281 in November 2022, defeating the latter via a fifth-round KO to capture the middleweight title. But he would lose the rematch at UFC 287 and the 185-pound title in the process.

Who did Alex Pereira lose his belt to?

The UFC rematch on April 2023 was a turn in the tide for Alex Pereira. He looked absolutely invulnerable after steamrolling through the likes of Sean Strickland and Bruno Silva and beating his arch-rival Israel Adesanya in the first outing, winning the middleweight strap in the process. However, UFC 287 did not go Pereira’s way as ‘Izzy’ handed him his first UFC loss.

‘Izzy’ set a beautiful trap for ‘Poatan’ in that bout and knocked his nemesis out in the second round to become a two-time UFC middleweight champion. Following that loss, he moved to the 205-pound division and while he managed to eke out a split-decision win over Jan Blachowicz on his light heavyweight debut, many feel the decision could have gone either way.

How many losses does ‘Poatan’ have in kickboxing?

While Alex Pereira has had only a couple of losses in MMA, he has 7 losses in his kickboxing record. The first came in his fifth career fight against Jason Wilnis of the Netherlands. He would then go on to lose to fighters including Cesar Almeida, Artem Levin, Artur Kyshenko, Yousri Belgaroui, and Donovan Wisse, against whom he fought in his last kickboxing bout.

Interestingly, one of the fighters Alex Pereira lost to, Yousri Belgaroui, whom he defeated twice later, had a chance to follow his old rival into the UFC, but he failed after losing his fight at Dana White‘s Contender Series. Meanwhile, ‘Poatan’ is reigning supreme in the UFC as one of its biggest stars in the current era.

Alex Pereira’s next mission is to defend his title at UFC 307 against a Muay Thai-stance-using Khalil Rountree Jr. who is eager to shock the world this weekend. Can he dispatch the 34-year-old or will it be his third MMA defeat? Let us know your thoughts below.