UFC Champ Alex Pereira Embraces his Heritage and Celebrates His Pataxó Legacy in Ceremony

The UFC light heavyweight champion ‘Poaton’ Alex Pereira recently participated in an indigenous ceremony with his Pataxó tribe in Brazil. The event took place shortly after Pereira’s knockout victory over Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307.

Alex Pereira Pataxó

During the ceremony, Alex Pereira joined in ritual dances and blessings, paying homage to his indigenous heritage. Photos and videos shared on social media showed the champion proudly displaying his Indigenous identity alongside fellow tribe members.

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A post shared by Ubiranan Pataxo (@ubirananpataxo)

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This celebration of Alex Pereira’s roots comes at a time when he is still recovering from a hand injury sustained during his title defense against Rountree Jr. Pereira’s connection to his Pataxó heritage runs deep. In 2014, before his MMA career began, he was introduced to Ubiranan, the leader of the Pataxó people. Since then, Pereira has consistently represented his Indigenous community in his professional fights, either through clothing or face paint.

Interestingly, Ubiranan had predicted Pereira’s success in the UFC when they first met. The Pataxó chieftain told MMA Fighting that he had foreseen Pereira becoming a world champion and gaining national recognition. Ubiranan even expressed his belief that Pereira could potentially become a heavyweight champion in the future.

He even predicted that ‘Poatan’ would lose his second title match against Israel Adesanya.

“When we met I told him he would become world champion, and the whole country would know him,” Ubiranan said. “He has the support of every indigenous. We are more than 300 indigenous groups and almost a million indigenous men and women. Every tribe knows him. He’s in the United States now, but we’re always in touch, sending him good energy” [Ht MMAFighting]