Alex Pereira talks about 'stoneface emoji' becoming his symbol, claims fans encourage him to merchandise it

Alex Pereira is the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion and one of the most terrifying forces in the promotion. But he has also become something of a meme due to his stoic demeanor and strongly defined facial features. This led to comparisons between Pereira's face and the Moai statues of Eastern Island.

Eventually, this caused people to identify the Brazilian power puncher with the Moai statues emoji. During a recent appearance in the MMA Hour, Pereira spoke about the connection between him and the emoji through his manager.

"Well, I think he start with the fans, you know what I mean? Somebody start mentioning because you know his cold stone face, putting a comparison between them and he kind of start using it too and it's something that he really enjoy. I think the fans enjoy, he actually made a shirt with a stone face."

Check out Alex Pereira and his manager talk about the stone face emoji (2:36):

The Brazilian is scheduled to headline UFC 300 in his first light heavyweight title defense, where he faces Jamahal Hill, the division's former titleholder. The bout will pit two knockout artists and ranks among one of the most exciting matchups at 205 pounds.

Hill will look to regain the title he never lost inside the octagon but was forced to vacate due to injury. Meanwhile, Pereira, who once held middleweight gold, will look to score his first successful title defense and prove himself as the undisputed kingpin of the 205-pound weight class.

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Alex Pereira has already beaten four UFC champions

Alex Pereira is known for having beaten Israel Adesanya and dethroning the Nigerian-born New Zealander for UFC middleweight gold. However, before that, he had also knocked out Sean Strickland, a future 185-pound titleholder. After his brief middleweight stint, Pereira set his sights on the light heavyweight division.

Check out Alex Pereira TKO'ing Israel Adesanya:

There, he dragged former 205-pound champion Jan Błachowicz to a hard-fought split decision, which he won to earn a title shot for the vacant strap against another former champion in Jiří Procházka. This time, 'Poatan' made sure to end the fight early, TKO'ing the Czech phenom in round two.