Alex Pereira ended UFC 281 with a gold belt wrapped around his waist after a fifth-round TKO win over Israel Adesanya. Upon his return to the gym after the fight, “Poatan” was also awarded a new belt, this time to signify his ascent in the ranks of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
In a video posted by MMA correspondent Ariel Helwani, Pereira was given his brown belt by his coach Plinio Cruz, who lauded the newly-crowned champion for using jiu-jitsu “to survive.”
“You guys don’t know, Alex once competed in jiu-jitsu back in the day,” Plinio said in the video above (transcript by MMA Mania).