UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and his girlfriend, Merle, have reportedly broken up. Pereira unfollowed Merle on Instagram and deleted all posts that included her. However, he did recently post a transformation picture and sent a message to all his followers on Instagram.
Alex Pereira put together two pictures of him side by side 14 years apart and took to the caption to share his message with his followers. Pereira wrote that he wanted to show his evolution from 2009 to 2023, not only physically but as a person in general. He wrote that a lot of things have happened and that he is reflecting on them. He revealed that he felt compelled to try and motivate all of those who always took the time to check on him. Pereira signed off by writing:
I wish you all that 2024 will be the best year ever. Never give up on your dreams.Alex Pereira via Instagram
This came amidst the rampant rumors of his breakup with his long-term girlfriend Merle. Rumors of their breakup began circulating when the couple unfollowed each other on social media and deleted all pictures of each other. Merle also removed the term “Mrs Poatan” from her bio. Merle recently confirmed the breakup with a video before the new year.
Meanwhile, after his breakup, the UFC light heavyweight champion posted videos of himself shadowboxing, including one at the top of a mountain. He also posted a video of himself driving his Ferrari with a girl named Aline Antoniassi, which led to speculation that she is his new girlfriend.
Alex Pereira’s transformation from 2009 to 2023
Brazilian-born fighter Alex Pereira has a troubled past. He grew up in the favelas of Brazil, dropped out of middle school, and started working as a bricklayer’s assistant and later in a tire shop. Pereira developed an alcohol addiction while working at the tire shop, and he was not able to overcome it until he started kickboxing.
Pereira began his kickboxing training in 2009 to overcome his addiction and get healthy. He made his professional kickboxing debut in March 2012 and won. The Brazilian became a two-division Glory kickboxing champion and a WGP Kickboxing middleweight champion. “Poatan” also won middleweight and light heavyweight gold with GLORY. His kickboxing record is 33 wins and seven losses.
In 2023 Alex Pereira became the ninth fighter in UFC history to win championships in two divisions. He also became the fastest to do so, beating Randy Couture’s record of nine fights. Last year in November, Pereira defeated former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiří Procházka for the vacant UFC light heavyweight championship belt.
The fight took place at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden. Pereira won the bout via TKO stoppage in the second round, earning him the Performance of the Night award. This happened after the UFC middleweight belt to Israel Adesanya in April 2023, at UFC 287. Adesanya knocked out Pereira four minutes and 21 seconds into the second round.
In case you missed it!
ncG1vNJzZmiemafAtb%2FPqKmtsl6YvK571J%2BaZqaVrMBurcyim6ysXZ2yor7TZpmrnZGgtq%2BzjKynpaGkYsSqwMdmnqKqnJu%2FqrHNnWSapJWterGx0Z6gq5ldp7Kutc2dqmaekaPAbrvFZqCnm6Kasaquy55kraqRo8Cnu9GmmK2hn6N8