"Drake curse incoming" - Fans react as Alex Pereira daps up rapper at his concert in Sydney, Australia

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira was recently spotted interacting with Canadian rapper Drake in the latter's concert in Sydney, Australia. The pair bumped fists before Draker walked off to tend to his performance. Unfortunately for Pereira, not all of his fans were pleased with the interaction.

Drake is known for being the source of the memed 'Drake curse' in combat sports, which implies that any fighter, be they a boxer or MMA fighter, is more likely to lose if they somehow interact with the rapper or, more frequently, if Drake bets on them to emerge victorious.

Check out Alex Pereira fist-bumping Drake:

While the 'Drake curse' isn't 100% effective, it has been blamed for countless losses in sports, not just in the fighting world. This left fans wondering whether the interaction could, in some way, negatively impact Pereira's upcoming light heavyweight title defense against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313.

One fan on X/Twitter joked about Drake potentially betting on Pereira, causing him to lose the bout.

"Poor Pereira, Drake going to end up bettitng on him against Ankalaev now... the curse will reign supreme"

This sentiment was echoed by another fan.

"Drake curse incoming"

Others focused on how often Pereira seems to be away from home.

"Alex is everywhere all year but home lmao"

However, most of the tweets had to do with the supposed 'Drake curse.'

"But Alex getting KO'd in the next fight"

A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:

Fan reactions to Alex Pereira meeting Drake

Pereira is currently on an exceptional run of form, having defended his light heavyweight title three times in dominant fashion, TKO'ing Jamahal Hill, Jiří Procházka, and Khalil Rountree Jr.

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Alex Pereira has already beaten the 'Drake curse'

At UFC 300, Alex Pereira was set to defend his light heavyweight title for the first time. His opponent was Jamahal Hill, a trash-talking power-puncher who was exceessively dismissive of Pereira's skills as a striker. Yet, ahead of the bout, Drake placed a bet on 'Poatan.'

Despite fan fears, Pereira authored one of his greatest-ever performances, shrugging off a groin kick from Hill in viral fashion, before knocking him out with his patented left hook seconds later. It took him just three minutes to make short work of 'Sweet Dreams,' 'Drake curse' or not.