Alice Pereira – no, no relation to former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira – makes her promotional debut at Noche UFC this Saturday. The Brazilian, at just 19 years old, becomes the youngest female fighter in promotion history, meaning she could have a long career ahead of her. She draws Montserrat Rendon in her octagon debut.
Alice “Golden Girl” Pereira
Standing at five-foot-ten
Fighting at 135 lbs (bantamweight)
19-years-old
Fighting out of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil
Training out of LIFE MMA
A pro record of 6-0
4 KO/TKOs, 1 Submission
It’s rare to see prospects signed straight into the UFC, but Pereira is an exception, largely because she’s a young female fighter in the bantamweight division. Women’s bantamweight is notoriously shallow, so when a promising fighter emerges, the UFC tends to snatch them up quickly.
I understand why they signed Pereira. She’s just 19, competes at bantamweight, has a high finish rate, and possesses a solid frame for the division. She started as a raw athlete and is entering the UFC in the same fashion. Her first four opponents had losing records, though she did go on to defeat a 2-0 prospect and a former ONE Championship title challenger. Not the strongest résumé, but it’s something. Considering she’s only been fighting for a little over a year, the UFC is clearly throwing her in to sink or swim.
Pereira has talent and potential, but she can be frustrating to watch. Her punches are loopy and come from the hip rather than straight down the pipe. With her long frame, she should be pumping the jab constantly, yet she rarely throws it. It’s like watching a seven-foot basketball player who can’t dunk. Throwing from the hip can sometimes work since it makes her strikes harder to read, but with her build, a steady jab, teep, and straight one-two would make her a much more dangerous fighter. She’s at her best when throwing in volume, using awkward angles, but instead of keeping range, she often lunges in recklessly. She also likes flashy techniques (jumping knees, Superman punches) but her tendency to throw herself forward will eventually get her punished by the right opponent.
Her wrestling is serviceable but nothing noteworthy. Defensively, she’s likely better than offensively, but given her level of competition so far, it’s tough to gauge. Right now, at bantamweight, I’d favor her over fighters like Klaudia Syguła, Ravena Oliveira, Montserrat Rendon, Irina Alekseeva, and Chelsea Chandler—only about 20% of the division. She’s too green at the moment, but at just 19, her ceiling is much higher than most.
