Heavyweight MMA Legend Baffled by Alex Pereira’s Two Division Championship Success

Alex Pereira has dominated the UFC’s heavier weight classes since signing with the promotion back in 2021. The former GLORY kickboxing double champion is set to go up to heavyweight to challenge for his third UFC title. But heavyweight legend Alistair Overeem has revealed that he doesn’t understand the mechanics behind Pereira’s continued success in MMA.

‘Poatan’ is set to take on Ciryl Gane in the co-main event of UFC Freedom 250 at the White House. If successful, the Brazilian will become the first UFC fighter to hold titles in three separate divisions, even if it is an interim belt. Pereira’s short UFC career has yielded incredible success so far, which has confounded Overeem.

The Dutch heavyweight revealed that he doesn’t believe the former light heavyweight champion should be as successful as he is. Yet, the Brazilian continues to surprise him. He revealed his bafflement at his fellow ex-kickboxer’s success to Ariel Helwani during a recent appearance on his show.

[Alex Pereira] is an enigma anyway, because, you know, he’s a kickboxer. So, like, have we ever seen him on the ground?… So, he’s a little bit of an X factor. Looking at him from the beginning, I wouldn’t give him any wins, but apparently, he’s winning… Like, what ground skills does the man have? He doesn’t have any ground skills… In my opinion, you need years of wrestling to be able to deal with wrestlers from UFC. And he’s just going in there, six months camp.

Alistair Overeem via the Ariel Helwani Show

Alistair Overeem admits he’s still baffled by Alex Pereira’s UFC success:

"That man is an enigma… Looking at him from the beginning, I wouldn't give him any wins… What ground skills does the man have?

I would think he absolutely [won't win against Ciryl Gane], but I don't… pic.twitter.com/leKtSFLMXg

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 20, 2026

The former UFC heavyweight title challenger also commented that the former double champion’s rivalry with Israel Adesanya did not answer the questions about his grappling. That said, while grappling is definitely the weakest area of his MMA skillset, by no means is he a pushover. Over time, Alex Pereira has become a legitimately good grappler, with solid takedown defense and decent reversals.

In their UFC 313 fight, Magomed Ankalaev was unable to take down Poatan despite 12 attempts. All of the Dagestani fighter’s control time came from holding Pereira against the cage. In fact, it was Ankalaev who got taken down right at the horn at the end of round 4. Though it wasn’t credited as a takedown, it was still a slick move from the former kickboxer.

All in all, Pereira’s grappling skills have greatly improved. Nonetheless, Overeem had earlier claimed that the 38-year-old had benefited from the retirement of a certain UFC legend after being handed a more favorable matchup against Ciryl Gane.

Alistar Overeem says Jon Jones’ lacklustre heavyweight run benefited Alex Pereira

Jon Jones recently expressed his desire to box and revealed plans to get out of his UFC contract. This came after the former heavyweight champion asked to be released after being denied a spot on the UFC Freedom 250 card. With callouts from rivals like Francis Ngannou after his recent win over Philipe Lins, Jones’ time in the UFC’s heavyweight division seems to be over.

According to Alistair Overeem, no one has benefited more from this than Alex Pereira. The former Strikeforce heavyweight believes that the heavyweight title reign of ‘Bones’ has enabled ‘Poatan’ to face a striker in his pursuit of a third title. Overeem spoke to Bloody Elbow about the UFC Freedom 250 co-main event matchup.

I think for Alex Pereira, the Ciryl Gane fight is more beneficial. Gane is more of a striker than a wrestler/submission artist than Jon [Jones] is. I think it’s gonna be a great fight and more favorable to Pereira. Pereira’s going to give away a little bit of weight, but [he] has more experience than Gane. But again, beautiful matchup.

Alistair Overeem via Bloody Elbow

Jon Jones would definitely be a tougher fight for Pereira given his impeccable grappling and championship experience. However, the French star is not a walk in the park for the ex-UFC light heavyweight champion.

‘Bon Gamin’ definitely has good footwork and an arsenal of strikes that are uncanny in the heavyweight division. Moreover, the Frenchman usually weighs in at around 247 lbs, so he will likely also outweigh his opponent.

Nonetheless, many experts, like Dustin Poirier, have predicted that Poatan’s power will carry over despite the potential weight discrepancies in his new division. A lot of questions will be answered in the South Lawn of the White House on June 14. However, Alistair Overeem may need to wait to have his curiosity about Alex Pereira’s grappling sated.

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