Alex Pereira Details How Kickboxing Experience Prepared Him for Short-Notice Fights

Alex Pereira is no stranger to traveling across continents to fight on short notice.

Pereira will put his light heavyweight title on the line against Jiri Prochazka in the main event at UFC 303 on June 29. Both fighters stepped in on 15 days’ notice to save the card after the originally scheduled main event between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler fell through due to a McGregor injury.

It will be a quick turnaround for Pereira after a first-round knockout win over Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 in April. However, Pereira’s Glory kickboxing career has prepared him for showing up to fight night under adverse conditions.

Pereira, who has two kickboxing wins over former UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, recalled a similar situation going into their initial matchup. Pereira encountered numerous obstacles going into the fight, which he went on to win via unanimous decision. As a result, “Poatan” believes he is mentally conditioned for such circumstances going into upcoming clash against Prochazka.

“Of course, this is not the best way but it’s not new to me,” Pereira said on his YouTube channel. “Been through similar situations. First fight I did with Israel, in China, no one know, but I did two [trips] to China in 30 days. I went for interviews, take some pictures, went back the next day, in and out of China… But for my fight [it] was complicated. After 30 days I went back to fight. [Cutting] weight, was the category 85 kilos in kickboxing. I did three stops, three stops to get to the final destination. That got me very tired, got there just in time to [cut] weight, cut the weight, did my obligations, went to the fight and won. This isn’t new to me. My mind is very strong for this. I decided to do this. It’s what I want, let’s go.”

Having fought for the majority of his career at middleweight, the cut to light heavyweight is also somewhat of a relief to Pereira. The Brazilian believes he should be able to comfortably cut the remaining 10 pounds he has left with some minor adjustments to his diet.

“I’m weighing 103 kilos [227 pounds], 10 [22 pounds] kilos [to cut]. I’m used to this,” he said. “For this category [light heavyweight] is better for me. Have 15 days for the fight, have a good time to adjust the diet.”

Pereira has already defended his title against Prochazka via second-round KO in their first meeting at UFC 295 in November 2023. “BJP” has since rebounded with a second-round TKO win over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 300.