New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Danbury’s Pereira headlining UFC 300
Danbury’s Alex Pereira is preparing to defend his light heavyweight title for the first time since winning it at UFC 295. Pereira gained the belt by defeating Jiri Prochazka by a second-round TKO.
Pereira’s highly anticipated fight against former champion Jamahal Hill will be the main event for UFC 300 at TMobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. The Main Card begins at 10 p.m. on ESPN+ pay-perview.
The current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion is ranked No. 4 in the UFC men’s pound-forpound rankings. He’s only the second MMA fighter from Danbury to hold the belt, joining his trainer, Glover Teixeira, who won the UFC Light Heavyweight title on Oct. 30, 2021. Teixeira retired after losing his belt to Hill in January 2023.
Hill has not fought since. An injured Achilles tendon kept him from defending his belt, and he vacated it shortly after.
Pereira, who trains out of Teixeira MM & Fitness in Bethel, reflected on his UFC journey, which has rocketed him to the top of the sport. This will be the fourth time he has headline an event in eight fights.
“I know that I would have gotten this far in the UFC, but not this fast,” Pereira told ESPN through an interpreter. “The work that I put in before the UFC and making those exciting fights that I make, people like exciting fights, so I deliver those so I’m here.”
Pereira, 36, has become a multiple-time champion in both kickboxing and MMA. After he became champion of both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions of Glory Kickboxing, he was the first and only fighter to have simultaneously held Glory titles in two weight classes.
Pereira holds a 9-2 record, with seven knockouts. Hill is 12-1 with seven knockouts and won five matches by decision.
“I respect him a lot because even kickboxing for example for Alex for guys they were not as experienced
but had a lot of heart, had a lot of eagerness to fight so they gave him hard fights,” Pereira told ESPN through an interpreter. “Doesn’t matter
if you’re the most technical, most experienced guy, but (if) you don’t have enough cardio, if you don’t have enough heart, Jamahal
will show it to everybody.”
UFC’s next pay-perview event, UFC 301, is scheduled for May 4 in Pereira’s native Brazil.