Alex Pereira is returning to the octagon very soon in a short-notice fight against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303. This weekend he will attempt to defend his light heavyweight title for the 2nd time with a rematch. The pair had clashed previously at UFC 295. Now every fighter has something unique they do before the fight. For instance, Prochazka prefers to test his endurance by putting himself in dire situations. He was seen meditating under a waterfall and even rubbing poison ivy on his body. As for Pereira, it is not that harsh, but there is a ritual he abides by.

He likes to shave his head before every fight. Ahead of the UFC 303 bout, a footage of Pereira shaving his head has been going viral. But why does he do it? Let’s see.

 ‘Pataxo’ Tribe’s Alex Pereira revealed the reason behind shaving his head

‘Poatan’ is very chill when he is speaking about something and with that same vibe he spoke about why he shaves his head before a fight in a YouTube video uploaded on his official channel. He was shaving his head for UFC 300 and decided to show it through a video. ‘Poatan’ revealed that he has very thick hair and some people love that look, but he does not take care of his hair that much. When he was asked whether he shaves it himself, he said, “I always shave it, it’s easy. Sometimes you’re busy and have to schedule a time.”

He also claimed that he likes to be bald with a clean look. After saying that, he very casually started shaving his luscious head full of hair by looking at his phone’s front camera. His coach came in after ‘Poatan’ was done with the new style and he said something interesting. Pereira was preparing for the UFC 300 as if he was going to war.

His coach reckoned, “From all cultures to paint the face, go to battle, do the ritual. That’s the combat, Alex Pereira. That is his version, the warrior version. Paint face for weigh-ins, shave head for fight.” So clearly UFC 303 is also a warzone for him and Pereira recently shaved his head to get ready for the fight.

Shaving his head has become a sort of ritual for Pereira after he did it himself for the UFC 300 fight against Jamahal Hill. The fans are already aware of this practice and were not very surprised this time as well. However, there was one time when he did not opt to shave his head.

The only MMA fight when Alex Pereira did not fight bald

Pereira had participated in the Jungle Fight before becoming a UFC star and he fought Marcelo Cruz and Marcus Vinicius Silveira, to name a few. Interestingly, while fighting Cruz, he did not shave his head and went in with a thick and luscious hairline. He defeated Cruz in round 1 via KO/TKO.

He even had a beard during this fight, so maybe the practice had not been started by him yet. This fight was back in 2016 when Pereira was a young 28-year-old fighter. Pereira started the fight in defence and gradually started with leg kicks, combining them with his uber-fast punches. He finished the fight with a clean KO and won.

Now he is preparing to go to war against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 and ‘Poatan’ is ready since he has already shaved his head. Do you think he will win this rematch? Drop your predictions in the comments.