It has been less than a week since Alex Pereira registered a career-defining win at UFC 320, and Dana White has already given him his next assignment. Well, the promotion is going back to Brazil for a Fight Night in Rio this weekend. The card looks good with three top-tier local veterans: Vicente Luque, former champions Deiveson Figueiredo, and Charles Oliveira. Though Pereira won’t fight, he will be in Rio de Janeiro.

Yes, he will make a public appearance before the weigh-ins for UFC Rio to interact with fans and media personnel. Joining him will be former featherweight title contender Diego Lopes on the Q&A panel.

This piece of information was brought to light by MMA Latinoamerica on X. However, there is no such announcement from the UFC so far.

As per the report, apart from Alex Pereira, a few more prominent names are making appearances: Norma Dumont and Gilbert ‘Durinho’ Burns. It surely will be a treat for the fans in Rio de Janeiro.

All that said, this is not the first time ‘Poatan’ will do something like this. Back in April, during ‘UFC 315: Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena’, the Brazilian fighter was in Canada to interact with fans in the VIP lounge. There were other ‘surprise’ fighters, too, for fans to interact with. But seeing Pereira in Brazil will be different.

Alex Pereira will not only be interacting with the fans in Rio de Janeiro, but will also be supporting his comrade Charles Oliveira, who will be heading into the fight against Mateusz Gamrot while riding a KO loss.

Interesting Facts:

1. The UFC has not been to Brazil since May 2024. Back then, Alexandre Pantoja had successfully defended the flyweight title against Steve Erceg in the main event of UFC 301. The card attracted 14,514 fans to Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro—the same venue where Oliveria is set to fight.
2. Alex Pereira never fought a UFC fight in Brazil.
3. Charles Oliveira has fought in Brazil (UFC) six times and won all those fights. His last fight at home was against Kevin Lee in 2020, which he won via submission.

Brazilian fans will hope that the most famous fighter from their country will pick a win. And while they are at that, ‘do Bronxs’ took the opportunity to comment on Pereira’s UFC future, especially about ‘Poatan’s wish to fight Jon Jones.

Charles Oliveira is ‘apprehensive’ about Alex Pereira vs. Jon Jones

Alex Pereira’s career-defining win has the champ looking ahead to the next challenge. He has made it clear that there is no scope for a trilogy against Magomed Ankalaev after the 85-second win. And despite Dana White claiming that there are a few more fights at 205lbs left for him, ‘Poatan’ is looking forward to fighting Jon Jones at the White House next year. But for Charles Oliveira, it would create a mental conflict.

“When I fought the first time, Jon Jones was there. When I was the breakthrough fighter, Jon Jones was there. I was number two, he was number one. I admire him a lot,” Charles Oliveira said earlier this week, as reported by MMA Fighting. “It’s definitely going to be a fight that I will sit down and cheer for Brazil, for ‘Poatan’. But I’ll be apprehensive watching it because [Jones] is great.”

We will have to wait and watch if Pereira ever gets the chance to fight Jones. An important point to note here is that White is hesitant to let the Brazilian fight ‘Bones’. As of now, he has also denied Jon Jones a spot on the White House card.

So, the Q&A session might be the right chance for fans and reporters to throw in some interesting questions at Alex Pereira regarding his next step. What do you think?