“I want to fight MMA. I want to fight in the UFC,” Alex Pereira once whispered to Rodrigo Nogueira, back when he was just another hungry fighter with a dream. Fast forward to today, and ‘Poatan’ has completely redefined the sport, shattering expectations. From capturing the UFC middleweight title to defending the light heavyweight strap three times in a single year, the Brazilian powerhouse has become the embodiment of what a champion should be in the post-Jon Jones era where the division had begun to stagnate.

But did you know that Rodrigo Nogueira played a key role in Alex Pereira’s UFC journey? The former interim light heavyweight champion paved the way for Pereira’s shot at making his way to the promotion. Recently, Pereira met Nogueira and gifted him an expensive Rolex as a token of gratitude. Why? Well, that’s because ‘Minotauro’ laid the foundation upon which Pereira claimed the UFC ladder.

In the same exact post, the former UFC fighter shared that when he went to the Netherlands for a kickboxing event, he met Alex Pereira and the soon-to-be UFC champion wasted no time in asking Nogueira for help: “For those who don’t know the story of how we met: I was on a trip to record the travel and fights program Live to Fight, in the Netherlands. During the Kickboxing season, I met Alex in Glory! He came to me and said that he wanted to fight MMA,” wrote Nogueira.

He further added, “I passed my contact to him and arranged a conversation in my room during UFC Brazil in São Paulo. In 20 minutes, I introduced him to his business agent, Jorge Guimarães, and we saw a plan emerge for him to fight in the UFC. The champion knew exactly where to start, and where and when he would arrive—and he arrived.”

Since his debut fight against Andreas Michailidis, the promotion understood that they could make a Conor McGregor type of athlete out of ‘Poatan’ by making him the face of UFC. Dana White and the UFC pushed Alex Pereira to rise to the top, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. His longstanding rivalry with then-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya helped the cause. From defeating Israel Adesanya for the title at the top of the latter’s career, and only in Pereira’s fourth UFC fight, to becoming the light-heavyweight champ, Alex Pereira’s name echoes across the MMA world as the next big thing that the UFC has produced. However, his recent defeat against Magomed Ankalaev has pulled him down, but he is ready for the rematch. And his friends believe in him this time around.

 Charles Oliveira predicts the outcome of Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev rematch

We never witnessed the raw explosiveness in Alex Pereira when he fought against Magomed Ankalaev. Many within the community couldn’t believe that it was the same ‘Poatan’ who defended his title thrice last year. Is there any reason behind this performance? According to Alex Pereira, he was fighting with a broken hand and norovirus against Ankalaev. However, the rematch might witness a different Pereira, who will come back with every weapon, and this is what Charles Oliveira thinks.

When asked about his friend’s collapse against Magomed Ankalaev by Chael Sonnen, Charles Oliveira stated, “Alex did very well. He defended all his takedowns and took him down once. The only time he connected a good punch on Alex was when he was walking backward, but other than that, he just held him against the cage. Alex fought pretty well. On the rematch that’s going to happen soon, Alex will knock him out in the second round.”

Charles Oliveira has known Alex Pereira since their struggling days, and he understands the kind of fighter ‘Poatan’ is. Therefore, his assessment cannot be discredited. Given that, what are your thoughts on Alex Pereira’s career? State your thoughts in the comments below.