All you have to do is go back to Dec. 19, 2019, when the very first MMA Junkie headline on Alex Pereira published, to understand the amount of pressure he would be under once his mixed martial arts career got underway.
“The guy who knocked out Israel Adesanya says he can do it again – but in UFC,” it read.
That’s a hell of a way to introduce yourself to MMA fans.
At the time, Adesanya was still undefeated at 18-0 and two months prior, he capped off a meteoric rise to UFC stardom by putting on a masterclass against Robert Whittaker to become undisputed middleweight champion. Meanwhile, Pereira was the reigning GLORY kickboxing middleweight and interim light heavyweight champion with a measly MMA record of 2-1. He hadn’t even tried MMA in more than three years.
It was way too early for fans to think about Adesanya vs. Pereira happening in the UFC, but as was noted in that headline, “Poatan” had this feather in his cap: He’s the owner of two kickboxing wins over Adesanya, including a knockout.
That certainly got the attention of UFC president Dana White and the promotion’s brass. In Pereira’s return to MMA, a vicious knockout of Thomas Powell in November 2020 at LFA 95 was all Pereira needed to secure a UFC contract. That was Step 1 toward his goal.
How would the UFC build up the man being touted as Adesanya’s boogeyman? That was the question. It started out with a bang in November 2021 after a dazzling knockout of Andreas Michailidis with a flying knee and punches at UFC 268. Almost immediately talk of a future fight between Adesanya and Pereira ignited, but there was still a ways to go.
Or was there?
.@AlexPereiraUFC did the work – 3-0, two KOs and winning the UFC middleweight title – to be named our 2022 Male Fighter of the Year. 🏆
Below is his reaction.
Full story: https://t.co/8Oc7fn0Tm3 pic.twitter.com/GJug7MPQJa
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 20, 2022
Pereira’s lone fight of 2021 set him up for a massive 2022. His first bout of the year at UFC Fight Night 203 in March was a clean-sweep unanimous decision win over Bruno Silva, though it was evenly matched from start to finish. You might’ve figured that would derail Pereira off the fast track, but it didn’t as the UFC booked him against top contender Sean Strickland at UFC 276 – the same event where Adesanya was set to defend his title vs. Cannonier.
It was clear what the UFC hoped would happen. The chatter heading into UFC 276 was that Pereira vs. Strickland could be a No. 1 contender fight. It likely would take something spectacular for either man to guarantee their place, and boy, did Pereira deliver by knocking out Strickland in the first round with a picture-perfect vicious left hand. With Adesanya winning a lackluster affair to keep his crown, it was game on: Pereira would get his shot at Adesanya within his first year in the UFC.
Already Pereira’s confidence was beaming. “Whenever he’s ready, I’m good,” Pereira said after UFC 276.
The stage was set for the trilogy between Adesanya vs. Pereira: Nov. 12, UFC 281, Madison Square Garden, New York. It doesn’t get any bigger than that, which told us everything we needed to know about how the UFC felt about the matchup. And the hype was real, with every analyst and pundit chiming in on whether or not Adesanya could overcome Pereira, his Brazilian nemesis who chased him out of kickboxing and into MMA.
For the majority of the fight, it appeared Adesanya would as he put on a tactical striking display that led to him being up on all three judges’ scorecards heading into the fifth round. And that’s when it happened. That’s when Pereira made his move
Pereira came out with a real sense of urgency, knowing he was down on the card. He eventually tagged Adesanya with a series of power punches that had him pressed against the cage, on wobbly legs, and with nowhere to go. Unable to escape and intelligently defend himself, referee Marc Goddard waved off the fight, awarding Pereira a standing TKO victory to claim the middleweight after just four UFC appearances.
Three years earlier, the guy who knocked out Adesanya said he could do it again in the UFC – and he did. Of the 16 UFC fighters who went 3-0 in 2022, nobody’s wins were bigger and none were more impressive. For these reasons, Alex Pereira is the 2022 MMA Junkie Male Fighter of the Year.
Honorable mention
Alexander Volkanovski
Just how great was 2022 for UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski? He ends the year No. 1 pound-for-pound in the official UFC rankings and also set himself up for a potentially even greater 2023.
Volkanovski took care of business this past year, going 2-0 to remain the 145-pound champ. Back in April, Volkanovski’s year started with a fourth-round TKO win over Chan Sung Jung at UFC 273. Then in July, Volkanovski put to rest any remaining questions about who the superior fighter is – him or Max Holloway? – as he dominated Holloway to win 50-45 on all three judges’ scorecards and move to 3-0 against him.
As if his run of dominance in his own division wasn’t enough, Volkanovski advocated heavily for himself to get a shot at becoming a two-division champion to the point that the UFC had him weigh in as the backup for the vacant lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira at UFC 280. Now Volkanovski turns the page to 2023 looking to secure a second title when he challenges Makhachev for 155-pound gold in February at UFC 284.
