Ex-UFC heavyweight is "skeptical" about Alex Pereira's legacy despite meteoric rise: "I don’t see a long term for him"

Former UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem has addressed Alex Pereira's rise to superstardom and asserted his skepticism about Pereira's legacy. The retired MMA fighter notably criticized 'Poatan's' supposed lack of grappling skills.

Pereira is a highly accomplished kickboxer who held the Glory kickboxing middleweight and light heavyweight championships. After making a full-time transition to MMA and making his UFC debut in Nov. 2021, the Brazilian combatant achieved tremendous success and fame.

The 37-year-old is a former UFC middleweight champion and the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion. Additionally, Pereira's lone UFC loss came against fellow kickboxing and MMA great Israel Adesanya, whom he'd previously beaten twice in kickboxing and once in MMA.

Former UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem appeared on Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's JAXXON podcast in July 2024. Podcast co-host Bear Degidio alluded to Overeem being one of the most knowledgeable kickboxers to have ever competed in the UFC and asked for his opinion about Alex Pereira.

The former MMA and kickboxing champion indicated that Pereira lacks the grappling to make a long-term impact in the sport of MMA. Overeem stated:

"Oh, yeah. He's interesting ... Yes. So from Glory, impressive résumé, right? He knocked out Adesanya, I think twice, over there. Followed Adesanya into UFC, and then he's just winning his fights without any grappling, without any ground.

"So I kind of looked into it. I don't see a long term for him 'cause he just doesn't have that ground; even though he's strong, he's big, but you also need to be sharp. You need to take other people down at some point. I mean, he is very good in the stand-up, but I don't know. I'm skeptical."

Jackson then made an allusion that Alex Pereira's pair of kickboxing matches against Israel Adesanya transpired under the 'Glory of Heroes' banner in China and not in the U.K.-headquartered 'Glory' kickboxing organization.

Moreover, while Overeem implied that Pereira knocked Adesanya out in both kickboxing encounters, the matter of fact is that 'Poatan' won their first clash via unanimous decision in 2016 and the second one via third-round KO in 2017.

Watch Overeem's assessment below (0:00):

Watch the complete episode below (*comments about Pereira at 1:13:33):

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Alex Pereira displays his grappling skills ahead of UFC 307 fight

Apart from Alistair Overeem, Alex Pereira has been criticized by some of his rivals and MMA experts as well for his purportedly questionable grappling. Some believe Pereira hasn't had to use much of his grappling in the UFC yet, as he's befuddled most opponents with his striking.

'Poatan' notably received his Judo yellow belt from UFC women's bantamweight contender Kayla Harrison after his victory over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 in June 2024.

Watch Pereira's Judo throw against Glover Teixeira below:

Just a couple of days after UFC 303, Alex Pereira posted footage of himself executing a Judo throw and rolling with grappling savant and ex-UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira. Incidentally, Teixeira is one of Pereira's longtime grappling coaches.

Furthermore, Pereira recently unraveled another video of himself honing his Judo and overall grappling ahead of his upcoming light heavyweight title defense against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 (Oct. 5, 2024).

Watch Pereira's grappling training below: