Alex Pereira is the newest middle weight champion of the world in the UFC. If you haven’t watched the UFC, its one of the most prominent mixed martial arts organizations in the world.
Alex steamrolled his way to a championship fight with only 4 fights in the UFC before getting the title shot. He had a history with the champion Israel Adesanya from beating him twice before in another organization fighting kickboxing.
This made for a great story between the two fighters before they met up in the centre of the Octagon.
KickBoxing and His Indigenous Roots
“When I first started to train in kickboxing, my first teacher had indigenous roots. I went home the same day and asked my mom. She said my grandparents were indigenous.”
“It made me feel more confident. We wanted to resurrect my origins and indigenous culture. I made a ritual with the bow and arrow. Then a sequence with the indigenous music and that’s how it started.”
Alex Pereira goes by the nickname Poatan, which is in the Tupi-Guarani language, meaning Hand of Stone. Tupi is one of the largest groups of Indigenous Brazilians. While Guarani people are related to Tupi, linguistic differences set them apart.
“It’s very important to preserve the indigenous people who are sometimes a little forgotten.” Pereira has said.
“My father was a hard-working man but he never told me about this. Later he told me that my ancestors were warriors. I use that as motivation. My ancestors were the first inhabitants of Brazil with little resources and managed to survive.” Pereira has revealed.
Who Are the Tupi People
The Tupi people inhabited almost all of Brazil’s coast when the Portuguese first arrived there. In 1500, their population was estimated at 1 million people, nearly equal to the population of Portugal at the time. They were divided into tribes, each tribe numbering from 300 to 2,000 people.
Watch Alex Win the Title Below:
It was an amazing showing from the Indigenous fighter and we look forward to more of his fights.
Did you watch the fight? Who are your favourite fighters or athletes. Let us know in the comments.
