"The first time he shows emotion" - Fans react to Alex Pereira's hilarious attempt at the emoji challenge

Alex Pereira is set to make his return to the octagon this weekend when he faces Khalil Rountree in the main event of UFC 307. It will mark 'Poatan's' third light heavyweight title defense attempt in 2024 as he defeated Jamahal Hill via first-round knockout at UFC 300 and Jiri Prochazka via second-round TKO at UFC 303.

The light heavyweight champion is known to show little to no emotions, both inside and outside of the octagon. That changed on Wednesday as he attempted the emoji challenge, which involves making the same facial expression as the emoji that appears on the screen. MMA Orbit shared footage of Pereira unsuccessfully attempting to finish the challenge to X, captioning the post:

"Alex Pereira takes on the emoji challenge 😭"

Check out the tweet from MMA Orbit below:

Fans shared their reaction to the footage, with @Theprogressrep2 noting that Pereira is showing emotions, which he rarely does publicly:

"The first time he shows emotion"

@T_A_MMA joked that his inability to complete the challenge was due to his lack of experience with emotions:

"He couldn't complete it cause he never experienced that emotion before."

@ayeshaha_xo was amused with 'Poatan' messing up by smiling after each correct expression:

"It’s so funny every time he gets it right and then starts smiling before it connects and he has to do it again 😭"

@benbrewer200 noticed that Pereira struggled even with the face that required no emotion:

"The one time he needs to do a face with no emotion and he can’t chuckling 😂"

Check out the best fan reactions below:

Fan reactions

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Israel Adesanya reiterates that rivalry with Alex Pereira is over

Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya have shared one of combat sports' greatest rivalries, clashing twice in both kickboxing and mixed martial arts. While MMA fans have hoped for a trilogy, 'The Last Stylebender' recently revealed that the rivalry is done while sharing his prediction for 'Poatan's UFC 307 title bout on his YouTube channel, FREESTYLEBENDER, stating:

"I'm going to go Alex Pereira, by second round finish. And, look, if Khalil does it, it would f**king shock the world, but also it would be like, well, someone else has done it and they can f**king get off my d**k. So, it's like, well, go deal with that now. Go have that story to, you know what I'm saying? My story with him is over so I don't know. People always, just the 'Poa**rds' still, 'it's still 3-1, d**n it'."

Check out Israel Adesanya's comments on Alex Pereira below (13:35):

Both fighters have reiterated that they will not face each other again, with Pereira expressing an interest in training together. Adesanya noted that he does not want his long-time rival to lose again in his mixed martial arts career.