June is going to be a big month for Alex “Poatan” Pereira. The former two-division UFC champion has a chance to do something no other fighter in history has done. Pereira will face Ciryl Gane for the UFC’s interim heavyweight championship on June 14 at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.
Two days before that, Pereira graces the cover of the EA UFC 6 Standard Edition which will hit early access on June 12 with a worldwide release date on June 19.
If Pereira wins at UFC Freedom 250 just two days after early access and five days before the major launch, he’ll have had a month that is tough to top for any fighter before or after him. I spoke to Pereira about EA UFC 6, his upcoming fight and more.
What Was Motion Capturing For EA UFC 6 Like?
Pereira sat through the full motion-capture process with the EA Sports team, and walking through the experience, he was clearly impressed by the technology side as much as the final product.
“I don’t know how things work, but then they showed it there, doing everything the same, the movements,” Pereira said through his translator. “I said, damn, how do these guys do that. A lot of study, a lot of technology. I really liked it. You’re there, you do the movement, sometimes the arm movement comes out the same. The guys get it all. So it’s a very good experience that I had there.”
If you’ve watched Pereira live, you know the left hook is the signature weapon — and that’s exactly the detail the dev team locked onto. Seeing it translated cleanly into the game is, frankly, one of the moments the trailer breakdown caught.
How Much Input Did Pereira Have In His Hall Of Legends Environment?
EA UFC 6 builds custom arenas tied to the cover athletes and perhaps more to come after launch. It’s called the “Hall of Legends.” and part of the appeal is that it embodies the fighter’s culture and fight history.
I asked Pereira how much he steered the look of his.
“No, it was them who did it. I liked it, but the idea is all theirs,” he said. “If it was for me to do something like that, I wouldn’t do it my way. I don’t know if it would be so cool, because the guys studied for it, so they see details that we don’t see when we live there.”
He extended the metaphor to fighting itself, which I thought was an interesting answer. “It’s the same thing, if I’m training for someone, I can’t correct it because I can’t even see it. I’m fighting, but I can’t see it. But there’s a coach out there, the guy who’s always watching, he sees all the details and knows what to say. The guys know all the details and know what to do.”
How Heavy Is Pereira Now, And How Does He Feel?
For someone preparing to debut at heavyweight against a 265-pound test, Pereira admitted he doesn’t even have a current weight number on him.
“I don’t even know how much I weigh. It’s been a while since I’ve weighed,” Pereira said. “The last time I weighed I was at 117 [kilos], then I said, no, I see that my body is changing. I’m getting a little drier, but I’m also gaining more musculature. I haven’t weighed in a while, I think since I came from Sobral.”
His translator clarified that 117 kilos was roughly a month-plus ago in pre-camp, putting him somewhere in the 255-to-258-pound range now, and noted Pereira is “feeling good, like he’s getting in good shape.” The training videos that have been making the rounds back that up. He looks the part.
Would Three Belts Make Him The Best Ever?
I asked the obvious question. If Pereira beats Gane and becomes a three-division champion — something no one has done in UFC history — does that crown him the greatest of all time?
His answer wasn’t direct, but it still carried some weight. “I’ll never say that, because everyone has their own opinion. I’m not gonna keep exposing myself and talking about it. A lot of people, maybe it’s out of envy. Most fighters, or former fighters, frustrated people who never managed to do something, or didn’t even get close, they like to talk about it. Because people don’t accept a guy who started late in martial arts, people who have been in the UFC for 10 years, and couldn’t do 10%.”
The bottom line for him is the work itself. “I’m gonna do my job,” he said. “If people think I’m the best, if they think I’m not, it’s okay. I’ll be doing my job, making my money, changing my life.”
When I asked him for his own internal answer — not what anyone else thinks — he kept it tight: “Three division champion, breaking a lot of records.”
It feels like he considers himself an all-time great, but knows topic is subjective.
Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall Or Jake Paul Next?
If Pereira wins, the dance card writes itself: a unification with Tom Aspinall, the long-talked Jon Jones bout, or the Jake Paul crossover that keeps circling. I gave him all three. The Jake Paul option got the shortest answer in the interview.
“Boxing, I can’t even talk about boxing,” Pereira said. “I just signed an 8 fight deal with the UFC. I’m 39 years old. It’s not something I should be thinking about right now.”
On the MMA side, Pereira didn’t want to name a name. “I’m not picking opponents. Anybody that can fight. The UFC is not going to bring an alien for me at this point that’s going to be able to fight different than anybody else. Everybody is everybody. Heavyweight is heavyweight. So anybody that they bring.”
That tracks with how Pereira has handled matchmaking his whole UFC run — but it also keeps the Aspinall and Jones storylines alive without him stepping on either. Win first, then let Dana White’s bigger heavyweight picture sort itself out.
If everything breaks his way, Pereira’s June is going to be one of the most stacked months any UFC fighter has ever assembled. Chama.
