Former champ Alex Pereira's training footage with Australian ex-convict Spanian surprises MMA fans

Former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira recently trained with Australian social media star Spanian, much to the surprise of fans.

Anthony Lees, more famously known as Spanian, is an ex-convict who spent 13 years behind bars in Australia on various charges. His tough upbringing in Woolloomooloo and Redfern revolved around the use of heroin and cocaine. Ever since his release from prison in 2017, Spanian has found fame as a hip-hop artist and a social media influencer.

The YouTuber is keen on getting into mixed martial arts and is training for his first professional fight. Interestingly, he had the privilege of working out with former middleweight champion Alex Pereira.

Check out the Instagram post below:

Fans reacted to the meetup between the two on YouTube.

They wrote:

"alex and spanian lmao you would literally never think it"

"Spanian kickboxing by day ghost hunting by night hahah"

"Spanian [tears of joy emoji x3]"

Some fans seemed elated with the unexpected crossover between the world of mixed martial arts and hip-hop:

"What a crackup did not expect this crossover at all"

"The crossover we never knew we needed!"

Other fans also made sarcastic jokes and wished for a different meetup.

"Two of the scariest individuals on the planet [globe emoji]"

"Hey Alex, I would love to see you train with Yoel Romero"

Check out screenshots of all the comments from YouTube below:

Fans react to Australian social media star and ex-convict Spanian training with Pereira. [via YouTube]

Check out the YouTube video of Alex Pereira and Spanian training below:

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Alex Pereira speaks about run-in with Israel Adesanya and their lasting rivalry

Alex Pereira is scheduled to make his UFC light heavyweight debut against former champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291. Interestingly, 'Poatan' recently ran into his former opponent and arch-rival Israel Adesanya at the airport.

While most would expect the two to be dismissive of each other, fans were delighted to see both fighters behave in a cordial manner during the run-in.

Check out their chance meeting on Instagram:

Discussing the same in an appearance on MMA Fighting's Portuguese-language podcast Trocação Franca, Pereira said:

“The rivalry will always exist. I’m fighting [Jan Blachowicz] now, I have to have rivalry with the guy I’m fighting, you know? He’s in there and he wants to kill me, and I want to do the same to him. How am I going to treat him [nicely]? I have to be mean there. It’s the same thing with Adesanya. That doesn’t exist. That type of rivalry doesn’t exist with me.”

Check out Alex Pereira's comments on the podcast below: