UFC 303 — How Alex Pereira stepped up as soon as once more for the UFC

UFC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT champion Alex Pereira and his coach, Plinio Cruz, had been making ready to board a aircraft from Newark, New Jersey, to Australia on the morning of June 3 once they noticed the identical information as everybody else within the combat world. The UFC 303 information convention scheduled for later that day in Dublin, Eire, between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler to advertise their June 29 bout had been canceled. No motive was given.

The information piqued Pereira and Cruz’s curiosity, however they did not give it a lot extra thought. He was about to embark on a two-week journey stuffed with appearances and seminars in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. And he was already booked to combat Jiří Procházka in August at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. Pereira’s staff was anticipating the UFC to announce the bout throughout his go to to the nation.

“We did not have a bout settlement, however the combat was agreed on,” Pereira’s supervisor Jorge Guimarães informed ESPN. “[UFC chief business officer] Hunter Campbell knew we had been going to Australia and had mentioned, ‘Oh nice, we’ll benefit from that and begin selling it whereas he is there.

“So, when Alex received to Australia, I texted Hunter and mentioned, ‘OK, he is there. We’re all set to announce.’ And Hunter received actually quiet for a number of days. That is once I mentioned, ‘Oh s—, one thing’s happening.'”

In the course of the second week of Pereira’s go to, Guimarães obtained the decision he’d begun to suspect was coming. McGregor was out of UFC 303 resulting from harm and the promotion was scrambling for a substitute. On June 12, Campbell provided Pereira a 205-pound title protection towards Procházka, who Pereira defeated by knockout at UFC 295 in November. Paradoxically, Pereira and Procházka stuffed in for the principle occasion on that card as effectively in New York Metropolis, when Jon Jones pulled out of a heavyweight headliner resulting from harm.

Guimarães known as Pereira and received a lukewarm response. UFC 303 was in 16 days and he was on the opposite aspect of the world. He’d been coaching, however not combat coaching. He wasn’t on a combat weight-reduction plan. He additionally actually needed to headline the Perth card. Australia had given him an exquisite reception, and he beloved the concept of preventing Procházka there.

“Being there and attending to see the love of the followers, all people screaming ‘Chama,’ all people screaming my title,” Pereira informed ESPN. “I began to think about myself in that enviornment with all people chanting my title like that.”

Pereira’s staff by no means gave Campbell an outright “no,” however did point out they weren’t in love with the concept. The following day, Campbell known as once more. He understood their hesitancy, however the firm wanted Pereira to step up. McGregor’s withdrawal put the UFC in a bind. This wasn’t simply any pay-per-view. It was Worldwide Battle Week in Las Vegas. Behind McGregor’s title, UFC 303 had already produced a $20 million gate, in keeping with UFC CEO Dana White, and the UFC Corridor of Fame ceremony and fan expo was scheduled that very same week.

Guimarães reached out to Pereira once more. By the top of the day, Pereira and the UFC had agreed on monetary phrases for the distinctive circumstances of the combat and White introduced the brand new principal occasion.

“I informed him, ‘Hey, Hunter is even excited about canceling the occasion, they do not have a principal occasion,” Guimarães mentioned. “He mentioned to me, ‘Is that this for certain going to occur if I say sure?’ I knew then that he was prepared to combat as a result of his thoughts had already began engaged on whether or not to take an early flight again to the U.S.”

Finally, Pereira selected to meet his obligations in Australia and flew residence to Danbury, Connecticut, on June 16. That left one week of “camp,” earlier than he’d board one other aircraft for Las Vegas. He would even have little time to regulate to jet lag. And, in fact, the matter of constructing championship weight.

“As soon as he agreed, I might see a large change in him,” Cruz informed ESPN. “We nonetheless honored our commitments in Australia, however within the quiet moments, there was rather a lot happening in his head. It is rather a lot to course of in two weeks. However hey, you wish to be a hero, you have to do heroic s—.”

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Excellent storm: How Pereira-Prochazka got here at proper time for UFC 303

Conor McGregor’s abrupt withdrawal from the UFC 303 principal occasion has resulted in a well timed title rematch between Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka.

PEREIRA’S ENTIRE LIFE is a ballad of heroism.

He was born into poverty within the favelas of São Paulo, Brazil. At 17 years outdated, certainly one of his older brothers died from drug use. He battled alcoholism throughout his teenagers and early 20s, solely managing to interrupt the habit by throwing himself into kickboxing, which he started coaching on the comparatively late age of 21. But he turned the primary kickboxer to carry GLORY titles in a number of weight courses concurrently and received two UFC championships inside his first seven appearances within the promotion.

Behind the scenes, he is carried out loads of heroics already this yr.

Initially, Pereira’s 2024 was supposed to begin at UFC 301 on Could 4 in Rio de Janeiro. Pereira has by no means fought in his residence nation within the UFC and that occasion was a possibility to test that field. Nonetheless, the promotion wanted a principal occasion at UFC 300 and Pereira was the most suitable choice accessible.

“Accessible” being the important thing phrase. He was prepared to take a title combat towards former champion Jamahal Hill on a timeline that was lower than superb.

“He is the one champion I see doing this,” Cruz mentioned. “Normally, champions will say, ‘I would like this, I would like that. I want a couple of months off.’ Some wish to decide their opponents. The advantage of Alex is that he is a kickboxer, and kickboxers combat rather a lot. He is fought thrice in a single month earlier than. That is simply the form of man he’s.”

Two weeks earlier than UFC 300 on April 13, Pereira broke his toe throughout a coaching session in Connecticut. Cruz was out of city for a commentary gig on the day it occurred. Pereira’s coaching companions known as Cruz, panicked concerning the harm. Figuring out Pereira so effectively, Cruz was skeptical it might jeopardize the combat, however he known as Pereira instantly to search out out.

“I mentioned, ‘Bro, how’s your leg?'” recalled Cruz. “He simply modified the topic. I noticed a photograph of the toe and it was sticking in the other way, however he is only a savage, man. He is fought with a damaged foot, a torn meniscus. I do know when he is hurting, he is human in any case, however it goes together with the entire ‘Stone Face’ persona he has. He simply would not present it.”

Pereira went on to knock out Hill within the first spherical at UFC 300. Initially, he needed to combat in Brazil so badly that he thought-about preventing at UFC 300 and UFC 301 in simply three weeks. However along with his damaged toe within the lead-up to UFC 300 and a second damaged toe suffered within the Hill combat, there was no likelihood of turning round for UFC 301.

He nonetheless attended UFC 301 as a visitor fighter, nevertheless, and sat down with Campbell for a casual dinner assembly that week in Rio de Janeiro. Pereira needed to combat once more as quickly as doable, however Campbell mentioned the UFC did not have any openings till October, maybe in Salt Lake Metropolis. Pereira objected as a result of ready till October possible meant he’d solely combat twice in 2024.

Regardless that the UFC already had a strong middleweight title combat between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya deliberate for its August card in Perth, Campbell provided Pereira the date. He accepted instantly.

“He turns 37 in July, he is aware of his clock is ticking,” Guimarães mentioned. “He needs to combat. He needs as many massive fights as doable.”

IN EARLY 2023, Pereira and Cruz flew to Lebanon for a collection of appearances and coaching alternatives. Certainly one of their first stops was a small café in Beirut. Neither had posted something about their location on social media.

Inside 20 minutes, three babies approached their desk to ask Pereira for an autograph. The interplay despatched Cruz’s head spinning.

“The place did you children come from?” Cruz requested. “Did you pop up from the bottom? How did you even know we had been right here?”

Pereira’s staff has at all times identified of his potential within the sport. His preventing fashion is extremely entertaining, and Guimarães believes his combat intelligence exceeds the likes of Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and Patricio “Pitbull” Freire — Brazilian champions he and his enterprise accomplice, Ed Soares, have managed through the years.

This star energy, although? The best way Pereira has resonated with followers on a worldwide scale? That has been a shock. Followers mobbed Pereira at a UFC occasion in Toronto in January. He required safety at occasions in Australia because of the measurement of crowds. Guimarães is within the technique of renovating his residence in Bali this yr and has been frequenting outlets in a neighborhood village. He cannot imagine what number of locals have approached him concerning his connection to Pereira.

“These folks do not reside in poverty, however it’s a brilliant humble lifestyle over right here,” Guimarães mentioned. “They see me in Alex’s shirt and can yell, ‘Alex Pereira!’ He is changing into well-known amongst folks I by no means thought would have even seen MMA.”

Pereira will cap an eight-month stretch on Saturday during which he can have headlined the UFC’s annual megacard at Madison Sq. Backyard, its landmark UFC 300, and UFC 303 at Worldwide Battle Week, during which he stepped in for the largest star in MMA historical past in McGregor. UFC commentator and ESPN analyst Daniel Cormier lately posed the query, ‘Is Alex Pereira the face of the UFC?’ Whether or not he’s or not, he is change into arguably its most dependable champion.

Massive moments are inclined to feed into even larger moments in fight sports activities, and Pereira has expressed an curiosity in finally testing the waters at heavyweight. He’s certainly one of 9 fighters who’ve received UFC titles in two weight courses. Nobody has ever received a championship in three. Jones, the defending heavyweight champion and biggest fighter of all time, has already mentioned a combat between him and Pereira may very well be “essentially the most huge combat the UFC might make.”

One-to-two years in the past, the considered Jones vs. Pereira as the largest combat in UFC historical past would have felt foolish. However this weekend, when Pereira carries an occasion that was speculated to be the return of McGregor, it will not really feel laughable. He has change into the “massive second” champion of the UFC. He is been prepared to take dangers others will not, and his stardom is rising due to it.

May it will definitely result in a heavyweight combat towards Jones? That might be some heroism.

“He would not prefer to get his thoughts too far forward, however I feel he would love that problem,” Cruz mentioned. “If we get to that time, I feel that is a combat everybody concerned goes to need. It could be good for your complete sport.”