Usually when UFC President Dana White makes an announcement that a fighter is getting a contract with the promotion, he’s standing next to Laura Sanko on an episode of his Contender Series.
On rare occasions a fighter will find their way into the UFC on another route.
Tuesday was one of those rare occasions as White posted a pair of linked clips on his IG story that told a brief portion of Alice Pereira’s path to the UFC.
Pereira, a 5-foot-10 19-year-old bantamweight from Brazil wore has tallied a 6-0 record to begin her career. Following her unanimous decision win over Samara Santos on December 14, Pereira wore a t-shirt with UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard’s name, her record and KO resume.
Pereira’s record and gesture got the UFC’s attention and White posted the video of her callout and the call the prospect received notifying her she was in.
Here is a pair of screenshots from the post:
Pereira looks like a talented striker whose length appears to pose her opponents a significant challenge. This KO of Karla Lacerda at Quality Combat displays Pereira’s striking ability and power as a long-range sniper.
Pereira is super young, having just turned 19 on December 20, so there is no need to rush her. She now replaces Raul Rosas Jr. as the youngest fighter currently on the UFC’s roster.
Rosas turned 20 in October and currently doesn’t have a fight scheduled.
Pereira, who is not related to UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, might normally find herself on the Contender Series. However, the UFC’s brass have seen something in her that suggests she’s ready for the main roster now.
On Pereira’s Instagram, she appears to have trained with UFC heavyweight Jailton Almeida and possibly with rising middleweight contender Caio Borralho from The Fighting Nerds.
In short, she is far too connected for this signing to have come completely out of the blue.
It’s likely she’ll be brought along at a measured pace until she shows growth, but it’s clear there are tools present that could make her the kind of star the women’s bantamweight division desperately needs.
It’ll be interesting to see who Pereira gets in her UFC debut. The opponent she draws will immediately indicate what the UFC thinks of her current level.
Because she just went five rounds this month against Santos, it stands to reason Pereira could get a few months to prepare for her UFC debut. However, it’s also possible her signing was accelerated because the UFC has her in mind for a specific fight on a card coming up in the next 60 days.
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Rankings
Champion
Rankings
- Raquel Pennington
- Kayla Harrison
- Ketlen Vieira
- Macy Chiasson
- Norma Dumont
- Irene Aldana
- Mayra Bueno Silva
- Holly Holm
- Karol Rosa
- Yana Santos
- Miesha Tate
- Julia Avila
- Ailin Perez
- Jacqueline Cavalcanti
- Chelsea Chandler
Right now, the most exciting fighters in the division are Peña, Harrison, Perez, Cavalcanti, and possibly Chandler. However, aside from the first two, no one else should represent a major impediment for a rising star.
We’ll have to wait to see if Pereira can establish herself as a fighter who is ready to push toward a ranking sooner rather than later.
