Kayla Harrison has nothing but respect for Alex Pereira.
Earlier this year, Harrison and Pereira shared a fight card for the first time, with both picking up big wins at UFC 300. That evening, Harrison made her UFC and women’s bantamweight debut with a second-round submission of former champion Holly Holm, and Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of former champion Jamahal Hill. After the event was over, the two shared a moment backstage where Harrison — a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo — even saw fit to give Pereira a yellow belt, despite “Poatan” not using any grappling skills in his UFC 300 matchup.
Speaking recently with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Harrison explained why.
“A yellow belt is a joke, obviously,” Harrison told said. “You don’t normally give adults yellow belts, so that was part of it. ... And to be fair to him, he was showing me the videos of him training and he was kicking [ass]. I wish that he would release this one, oh my God — he did the move I taught him and then he did the move you do if the move doesn’t work. I was like, ‘Dude, you look like a judoka!’ It’s crazy how fast he picks stuff up. He looked like a legit judo [player]. He foot-swept the shit out of this kid. Like slipping on a banana peel.
“So I gave him a yellow belt as a joke.”
Like Harrison, Pereira also came to MMA after an extensive career in another combat sport: Kickboxing. A two-division GLORY champion, Pereira only joined UFC in 2021 and has already carved out a Hall of Fame worthy career, winning titles in two weight classes, headlining multiple marquee events, and earning Fighter of the Year honors in 2022. He’s also become one of the biggest stars in all of MMA and is the current frontrunner for 2024 Fighter of the Year honors as well — and Harrison couldn’t be happier for him.
“He’s literally living his best life, isn’t he?” Harrison said. “He doesn’t speak English but his character comes across. I think that’s what makes a superstar special: You can feel their aura and their character. I don’t even know if you call it charisma, but that thing. He has charisma.
“I’m just happy for him. When you hear his story and when you hear — he probably doesn’t talk about it a lot but he was an alcoholic and he started competing. Dude, that’s badass. I just love to see it.”
Pereira recently headlined UFC 303, knocking out Jiri Prochazka in their 205-pound title rematch. Afterward, Pereira said he was open to defending his title against Magomed Ankalaev, or perhaps moving up to heavyweight in an attempt to become the first three-division champion in UFC history.
