If fear had a face, it might look a lot like Alex Pereira.
As “Poatan” awaits word on his next assignment from UFC matchmakers, a by-the-numbers look at his rise to power:
36: Years of age for Pereira, who was born on July 7, 1987 in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil—a city of some 800,000 people situated near the southeastern coast of the South American country.
8: Pereira victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 80% of his career total (10). His list of UFC victims: Hill, Jiri Prochazka, Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland and Andreas Michailidis.
156: Seconds needed for Pereira to punch out Strickland at UFC 276 on July 2, 2022. Nearly two years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
3: Promotions for which Pereira has plied his mixed martial arts trade. In addition to his 7-1 record in the UFC, he went 2-1 in Jungle Fight and 1-0 in the Legacy Fighting Alliance.
194: Days spent by Pereira as undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion. He laid claim to the crown at UFC 295, where he put away Prochazka with a volley of second-round elbows on Nov. 11.
9: Fighters, including Pereira, who have struck UFC gold in multiple weight classes. Randy Couture, B.J. Penn, Conor McGregor, Georges St. Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, Henry Cejudo and Jon Jones are the others. Pereira held the middleweight championship from Nov. 12, 2022 to April 8, 2023.
165: Total strikes landed by Pereira in his unanimous decision over onetime M-1 Global champion Bruno Silva at UFC Fight Night 203 on March 12, 2022. It established a personal high-water mark for the Brazilian that stands to this day.
63: Percent success rate for Pereira on his significant strikes in the UFC. He has connected on 416 of his 662 attempts across his eight Octagon appearances.
200,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Pereira since he joined the UFC roster in 2021. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” four times.
26: Rounds started by Pereira as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on two occasions and carries a 2-0 record in those bouts.