UFC to Sign Glory Champ and Israel Adesanya Foe Alex Pereira After Glory 78

HOLY _____! Pereira's power is unreal!!! #LFA95 pic.twitter.com/0EAoY6z4fA

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 21, 2020

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Former Glory kickboxing two-division champion Alexsandro Pereira is fighting out of his contract on Saturday and already has his sights set on the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

On Saturday, the Glory light heavyweight champ Pereira (33-6 KB, 3-1 MMA) is planning on defending that belt against Artem Vakhitov, the man he won it from in January. Once a two-division champ at middleweight and light heavyweight, Pereira relinquished the former in pursue of the latter’s throne. Win or lose, “Poatan” is expected to sign with the UFC, as first reported by BJPenn.com, and he already has an opponent and date booked for his debut: Andreas Michailidis (13-4) at middleweight on UFC 268. News of the signing and the specific opponent has been confirmed by multiple outlets.

The Brazilian made his return to MMA at LFA 95 in 2020, where he faced Thomas Powell and decimated him with one left hand. A far more experienced kickboxer than MMA fighter, Pereira does find himself on a three-fight knockout streak when competing under MMA rules. His debut in 2015 did not go his way, when Quemuel Ottoni tapped him out late into the bout. Pereira was once targeted for a 2018 appearance on Dana White's Contender Series, but the kickboxing league prohibited him from competing. The kickboxer may most famously be known as the only man to knock Israel Adesanya out in any combat sport, doing so in 2017 at a Glory of Heroes event.

Michailidis rebounded from his unsuccessful promotional debut – a knockout loss to Modestas Bukauskas in 2020 – by taking a unanimous verdict over K.B. Bhullar in May. That decision put an end to a seven-fight knockout streak, where the Greek fighter either prevailed by or suffered a knockout in that span. “Spartan” celebrates a career finish rate of 85 percent, with all of his setbacks coming by way of knockout.

UFC 268 goes down inside of Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6 with a thriller of a card. In the main event, Kamaru Usman gives Colby Covington a rematch for the former’s welterweight throne. The co-headliner sees Rose Namajunas similarly put her belt on the line against a former foe, when she defends against ex-champ Weili Zhang at strawweight. Serving in the featured fight of the card is a sure-fire lightweight banger between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler.