NEW YORK – Alex Pereira is middleweight champion, thanks to honesty from his corner heading into the fifth round of his title fight Saturday at UFC 281.
As he strolled into the press room at Madison Square Garden fresh, Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) smiled, an unusual sight for a usually serious character. A title-earning TKO was the difference.
“A lot of emotions went through my head,” Pereira told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at the post-fight news conference. “So many years of hard work in that cage and here I am, champion of the world.”
