Scouting Report: Alex Pereira

Alex Pereira

Born: July 7, 1987 (Age: 36) in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Division: Light Heavyweight
Height: 6' 4”
Reach: 80”
Record: 6-2
Association: Teixeira MMA and Fitness
Stage of Career: Past his prime

Summary: Pereira is still very much a mystery man in MMA, especially now that he is moving up to light heavyweight. He is an outstanding striker who possesses perhaps the best left hook that MMA has ever seen, though he is a little lacking in other areas, like his jab or leg kicks. He also has perfect, textbook footwork and good defense, making him difficult for an opponent to touch. His grappling is still a question mark, though he can be taken down and looks very limited off his back. On the flipside, he has looked better over his UFC career. However, his striking skills are likely declining even as his aptitude for grappling and MMA overall are increasing. There was a heaviness to his movements in the rematch against Adesanya that didn't exist before.

STRIKING

Stance: Orthodox
Handspeed: Slightly faster than average
Jab: Decent; hard and straight, but slightly telegraphed and inaccurate.
Cross: Very good; hard, straight, and technical, but slightly telegraphed.
Left Hook: Perhaps the greatest in MMA history; a sudden, fast shot with perfect, tight arc and very nice rotation with legitimate one-punch knockout power, leaving opponents out cold. Can catch foes coming forward with it, too, which he has done more than once, including to Sean Strickland. Likes to open up with the shot, too.
Overhand Right: Doesn't throw this punch much.
Uppercuts: Doesn't throw these punches much.
Solitary striker or volume puncher: Definitely far more of a one-shot sniper.
Favorite Combinations: The 1-2, which is good; the jab is little to worry about, but the cross is straight and hard.
Leg kicks: Very average; they're shockingly light, though it's fast and difficult to counter him off of.
Body kicks: All-time great front kick to the solar plexus; it's ridiculously accurate as well as sudden and powerful, hurting opponents.
Head kicks: Great head kick, being hard and with plenty of flexibility and accuracy, but could be faster.
Knees: All-time great; beautiful, fantastic switch knee which I can't even call flying, since he only hops slightly off the ground. Very dangerous weapon which he can catch opponents who are looking down with, like Andreas Michailidis.
Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

A lot of Pereira's game is centered around the left hook, very possibly the best such blow in MMA history. It has everything you would ever want from the shot; blinding speed, technique, accuracy, and one-punch knockout power, and is one he has caught opponents coming forward with again and again in MMA, knocking out Thomas Powell and Strickland with it, among others. He has one of the very best switch knees too, as he doesn't do a full jump so much as a hop thanks to his height and length, making it far more consistent and accurate. And his front kick to the solar plexus is utterly devastating. A lot of the rest of his offensive game is good but not as great as one would expect; the jab is solid but a little telegraphed and inaccurate, and his leg kicks are surprisingly light. However, his footwork is immaculate and his defense overall is excellent, with an outstanding sense of range and plenty of nice hand-fighting and blocking. He is very difficult to touch on top of the danger he himself presents standing up. With all that said, there was a pronounced heaviness to his strikes and movement in the Adesanya rematch that didn't exist before, and may well have been a factor in him being knocked out. He is almost certainly declining physically and in terms of his striking.

CLINCH

Physical Strength: OK.
Technique: Has a solid grasp of the fundamentals, but is a little too slow to react since it's not natural.
Knees: Great when he throws them, fast, hard and accurate, but is usually too focused on avoiding the takedown to do so.
Elbows: Brutal, great side elbow when an opponent is grinding for a takedown around his hips, with just one enough to make him change his mind.
Defense Against Knees and Elbows: Vulnerable to both, since again, he is too worried about being taken down.

Pereira is definitely vulnerable in the clinch, although less so than other world-class strikers. He has at least average physical strength for the UFC middleweight division and does well with the fundamentals, though he is often a little slow in applying them, especially if an opponent chain-wrestles. The fact that he is so concerned about avoiding takedowns also means he neglects his own offense and can be hit by opponent strikes in the clinch, though if an opponent is grinding for a takedown around his hips, Pereira can nail them with a fantastic side elbow to the head that will make them quickly rethink what they're doing.

GRAPPLING

Wrestling from a Shot: Shot a decent attempt against Adesanya that got him down, though subsequent attempts were unsuccessful. Not a significant weapon in general.
Wrestling in the Clinch: Fairly limited, being outgrappled by Adesanya there.
Takedown Defense: OK; avoided all attempts by a journeyman like Powell, but was hit with a double-leg in the clinch by Michailidis, though just barely.
Ability to get back to feet: Difficult to say; only saw this against Michailidis, whose top control is awful, but he showed solid fundamentals there; pushing down on the head, butt-scooting to the cage, and then wall-walking back up technically enough.
Submissions: None to speak of.
Defense and BJJ from the bottom: Poor, simply eating ground-and-pound from Adesanya with little recourse.
Top control: Impossible to say at present, but likely very limited.
Ground-and-pound: Hasn't show anything in the brief periods he was on top.

Pereira's grappling is largely a mystery and likely a work in progress to boot. He did score a nice takedown against Adesanya on a shot, though subsequent attempts were stuffed. In the clinch, he was outgrappled by Adesanya. Limited offense aside, Pereira has some solid defensive ones, doing well with the basics, whether it's his takedown defense or an ability to get up. Still, given how easily he gives up dominant positions against chain-wrestling, I feel a good grappler might well submit him easily. Was even eating quite a lot of ground-and-pound against Adesanya.

INTANGIBLES

Athleticism and general physical strength: Still good, though declining, as mentioned in his overall summary; very good athleticism and his physical strength for MMA is OK.
Cardio: Good. Was tired, but had enough energy left early in round 5 to knock out Adesanya.
Chin: Excellent; taking hard shots from Silva well and appearing very tough in his kickboxing fights I watched.
Recuperative Powers: Likely at least good.
Intelligence: At least good, possibly much more, as he is very disciplined with his distance control, hand-fighting and strikes. Also disciplined in terms of defending the grappling and getting back to the striking. Haven't seen him make a bad decision, which is common with world-class kickboxers transitioning to MMA at such an advanced age.