Michel Pereira flew back to his home state of Pará after scoring a big first-round victory over Ihor Potieria at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro on May 4, but decided to interrupt his vacation to help those affected by the historic floods in Rio Grande do Sul.
Pereira travelled to Canoas, more than 2,100 miles away Macaba, and has posted videos daily on his Instagram page to show his efforts and ask for donations.
More than 2.1 million people were affected by the floods, destroying hundreds of thousands of houses. The death toll due to the floods has now risen to 149, but the number is expected to grow since entire cities have been decimated.
“I’m exhausted but I can’t get tired of helping,” Pereira wrote on Instagram. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life, so I chose to be on the front line. We are with you, Rio Grande do Sul.”
On a separate post, Pereira wrote that “the scenes I’ve been seeing are scary.”
“I’ve never seen something like this even in a movie,” he added, “but I’m sure of one thing: we’re going to win this fight here too.”
Pereira started an online crowdfunding campaign that has since collected just over $2,200 in donations.
Check out the videos below.
