GLORY champ Alex Pereira set to make UFC debut

Alex Pereira, the only man to stop Israel Adesanya, has signed with the UFC and has a fight lined per BJPENN. com, who received the tip from an anonymous source

Pereira is set to face Andreas Michailidis at PPV event UFC 268, on November 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. It is nearly a done deal, the contracts have been drawn up and now all they need is signatures.

He comes into the UFC with a record of 33 and 6 (with two of those wins over the current UFC Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya). Pereira has captured GLORY kickboxing gold in the middleweight and light heavyweight classes.

His MMA experience began in 2015 and he amassed a record of 3 wins (all finishes) and 1 loss, but of course his kickboxing pedigree speaks loudly of where he is at striking wise. It will be interesting to see what he does in the UFC, there has been a history of top kickboxers making the jump.

Gokhan Saki came through from GLORY after decades in the squared circle, going 1-2 in his professional MMA career overall. Adesanya is of course the best example of this (he did not start grappling until he turned pro in MMA too). Then of course you have your Cro Cops and The Reems and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompsons. It will be interesting to see how he handles the smaller gloves and the threat of the takedown going forward. Who knows, he could very well tear through the division. There is only one way to find out.

Michailidis has been training in every aspect of Mixed Martial Arts since he was 8 years old, he will get to add a world champion kickboxer to his CV with a win. I am excited to see what he has up his sleeve for this one.

Before this debut, Alex Pereira is a kickboxer first and foremost and will step in defend his GLORY Light Heavweight strap at GLORY 78 on the 4th of September.