Not a lot of fighters can say their superstar brother coached them throughout a fight. Aline Pereira is one of the few who can. Saturday night’s MVP MMA card at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, featured the Pereira siblings. While Aline was taking on Jade Masson-Wong in a preliminary bout, her former UFC champion brother Alex Pereira was firmly in her corner.
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As the bout unfolded, ‘Poatan’ passionately coached his sister between rounds. And this quickly went viral online when Netflix, the broadcaster of the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano event, shared a clip of the moment on X. Aline ultimately earned a hard-fought split decision victory over Masson-Wong.
Alex Pereira coaching up his sister Aline during her split decision win against Jade Masson-wong 🇧🇷❤️ #RouseyCarano LIVE tonight on Netflix 9 PM ET | 6 PM PT
But despite the win, much of the attention afterward centered on Alex Pereira, whose intense and animated corner work became one of the most talked-about moments of the event. And as it so happens, this isn’t the first time Pereira has appeared in Aline’s corner.
Throughout Aline’s career in both kickboxing and MMA, ‘Poatan’ has been a loud voice, offering correction and motivation from the corner. But perhaps she needed him most in this one. Masson-Wong had taken Pereira down in the first round, which proved to be a struggle for the Brazilian.
She, however, managed to establish her kickboxing range as the fight went on and secured a win on points. Two judges gave the fight to Pereira with 29-28, while the third saw Masson-Wong win with 30-27. In any case, Aline improves her record to 3-2.
And after the fight, Alex Pereira’s clip of the cornering moment had already attracted hundreds of comments.
Alex Pereira in Aline’s corner is seen as a special moment
One fan felt the ‘Poatan’ presence in the corner was a special moment. The fan wrote, “Huge moment for Aline split decision win and Alex in the cage makes it even more special.” Interestingly, Pereira entered the cage afterward and hugged his sister to celebrate the win.
Another user claimed Alex Pereira guided his sister to the win. “Alex Pereira was locked in every second of the way, guiding his sister to a massive milestone victory,” the user commented. Aline was in trouble in the first round of the fight, but later recovered to win.
A third user felt Pereira’s presence made the fight unfair for Masson-Wong. The user posted: “This is illegal levels of truth.” Besides Alex, his coach, Plinio Cruz, who also trains Aline, was also in the corner.
Someone else came up with the only word they could think of. The user wrote, “Chama.” It means ‘let’s go’ or ‘come on,’ which is often associated with Alex Pereira.
And finally, another user branded Aline a “🍿 Young Legend 👏🏾.” However, she hasn’t achieved the level of success her brother enjoys.
Aline Pereira may have been the star in the cage, but Alex Pereira’s presence appears to have overshadowed that. But in the end, he appears to have helped her win the fight.
