Just a few days after becoming UFC middleweight champion, Alex Pereira has already gotten another belt.
Pereira received his Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt from instructor Plinio Cruz just three days after surprise comeback finish against former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
“New UFC middleweight champ Alex Pereira was awarded his BJJ brown belt by his coach Plinio Cruz last night.”
Fans reacted skeptically to the news, bringing up Islam Makhachev’s remarks to Daniel Cormier about how some of MMA’s top stars appear to receive BJJ black belts like candy on Halloween.
Makhachev stated, “We have to cancel many black belts [because] they make Jiu-Jitsu look bad. Because a lot of guys have black belt but I don’t know [if they have the skills].”
Fans immediately responded to the news that Alex Pereira had earned his BJJ brown belt in a mostly unfavorable manner.
One use wrote: “Yeah this makes me sad😂 it took me so long to get my damn purple belt, and this man just gets handed a brown belt after getting outclassed on the ground by Izzy”
Yeah this makes me sad😂 it took me so long to get my damn purple belt, and this man just gets handed a brown belt after getting outclassed on the ground by Izzy
— imanariTroll (@cccseasoning) November 16, 2022
Another user wrote:
“Alex: I want my brown belt
Plinio: here you go put your fists down”
Alex: I want my brown belt
Plinio: here you go put your fists down
— Kairos (@KAIROSMMA2) November 16, 2022
Another commented: “Prob paid $8 for that brown belt like ppl paying $8 for that blue check mark”
Prob paid $8 for that brown belt like ppl paying $8 for that blue check mark
— ♏️ (@Miggy1112) November 16, 2022
Pereira was a two-division champion under the GLORY Kickboxing brand, where he beat Adesanya twice before their fight at UFC 281. The Brazilian kickboxer even got a tattoo of a UFC championship belt on his bicep to mark his historic title victory on Saturday night. On Instagram, Pereira posted a video of the tattoo being made.
Anther ‘black belt’ checker – Khamzat Chimaev quickly piped in:
This comes after Chimaev finished another bjj black belt in Kevin Holland. After the fact, Chimaev’s bjj coach Alan Finfou related the following:
He said on Blockasset:
“I’m making Khamzat expose all the fake black belts in Brazilian jiu jitsu that are in the MMA scenario. Why? Because nowadays, people just get belts like they go to McDonalds.”
” They don’t do the job. He just got this purple belt. How many black belts in his career has he finished? So that shows, that’s about it. I’m using him to expose many guys.”
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