UFC middleweight champion Brazilian striker Alex Pereira has just been promoted to brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, according to social media journalist Ariel Helwani.
Helwani wrote:
“Last night, new UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira received a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from his trainer Plinio Cruz,”
In his last fight at the UFC 281 tournament, which took place in New York (USA), Pereira stopped New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya by TKO the fifth round and winning the UFC’s coveted middleweight belt.
The instructor praised Pereira’s Jiu-Jitsu saying that he had already competed in BJJ in the past back in Brazil and that he had shown good Jiu-Jitsu in his fight with Adesanya, with his securing of a takedown and a sweep. He also displayed the biggest quality of Jiu-Jitsu in his eyes: Surviving.
After the news was released, many UFC fans blasted Alex Pereira for getting dominated on the ground by BJJ purple belt Israel Adesanya at UFC 281.
The Brazilian kickboxer has only 8 MMA pro fight with zero submission victories. His sole loss in MMA has been via submission.
In the past UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev had said that there were many fake BJJ black belts in the UFC. while talking about Dustin Poirier’s ground game, he said:
“Black belt, who give him that? We have to check that now. And we have to cancel, brother, many black belt because they make the jiu-jitsu look bad because a lot of guys have black belt but I don’t know.”
You can see the ceremony here:
Related:
Xande Ribeiro On MMA Fighters Getting Promoted Straight To BJJ Black Belt: ‘It’s A Joke. Respect Jiu-Jitsu’
