UFC vet breaks down Alex Pereira's success, credits Brazilian fighter's "silent killer" persona for widespread popularity

Alex Pereira has become one of the most popular fighters in the world. He was recently hailed by former UFC fighter-turned-analyst Din Thomas, who spoke about 'Poatan's' success during a recent sitdown with MMAFighting on YouTube. Part of Pereira's appeal is his demeanor.

The Brazilian often projects a stoic, cold-blooded presence, rarely expressing any discernible emotion. Yet, despite it all, he has also exhibited an underrated sense of humor, which is most often seen in his interactions with Glover Teixeira, his close friend and mentor.

"If Alex [Pereira] were to come out and start talking trash, I don't think the fans would like it. Now, we'd be like, 'Where's our... that's not our guy.' Our guy was a silent killer, we like the silent killer, and that's what fighters have to understand. It's happening right now with Payton Talbott."

Check out Din Thomas' thoughts on Alex Pereira (8:27):

'Poatan's' popularity has soared, especially after his recent string of thunderous knockouts, which began with a first-round stoppage of Jamahal Hill at UFC 300. It marked his first title defense of the UFC light heavyweight belt, and he punctuated it with a celebration that went viral.

He followed that win with another dominant performance, knocking Jiří Procházka down at the tail-end of a one-sided round one, then knocking the latter out at the beginning of round two with a switch kick. The win has led to even more calls for 'Poatan' to move up to heavyweight to challenge either Tom Aspinall or Jon Jones.

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Alex Pereira has achieved tremendous success in very short order

Alex Pereira made his UFC debut in 2021, just three years ago. And in that span of time, he has authored an unprecedented run, beating five different UFC champions in Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya, Jan Błachowicz, Jiří Procházka (2x), and Jamahal Hill, most of whom he knocked out.

Furthermore, 'Poatan' captured two different undisputed titles, the first at middleweight and the second at light heavyweight, the latter of which he has now defended twice in dominant fashion. Now, there are calls for him to pursue a historic third divisional title in the UFC by moving up to heavyweight.