Alex Pereira, the only man to KO Israel Adesanya in Glory Kickboxing, is close to signing with the UFC and has his promotional debut set.
According to De Telegraaf, Pereira will sign with the Las Vegas-based promotion following his upcoming rematch with Artem Vakhitov, which goes down Saturday in the Netherlands.
Pereira will compete in the middleweight division and although he is a Glory Kickboxing champion, he has also competed in MMA. The Brazilain is 3-1 in MMA and is coming off a highlight-reel KO victory over Thomas Powell in LFA back in November. The 34-year-old lost his MMA debut in 2015 but has rallied off three straight wins.
Not only does Pereira hold a KO win over Adesanya in 2017, but he also beat the now-UFC champ by decision in their first meeting in 2016. Pereira also has a notable first-round TKO win over current UFC light heavyweight Dustin Jacoby in GLORY back in 2014.
Not only has Alex Pereira agreed to sign in the UFC, but he aleady has his UFC debut targeted. According to BJPENN.com, the Brazilian will make his Octagon debut at UFC 268 on November 6 at Madison Square Garden opposite Andreas Michailidis. The fight has been agreed to and contracts will be issued after Pereira’s kickboxing bout.
Alex Pereira (3-1), as mentioned, is coming off a first-round KO in LFA back in November. It was his first MMA fight since 2016, as his first three appearances took place in Jungle Fight.
Andreas Michailidis (13-4), is coming off his first UFC win as he beat KB Bhullar by decision back in May. Prior to that, he suffered a TKO loss to Modestas Bukauskas back in July, which is a fight he took up a weight class at light heavyweight. The Greek fighter does hold a notable win over Bellator veteran Ion Pascu on the regional scene back in 2016.
Are you excited to see Alex Pereira fight in the UFC?