Alex
Pereira recently had an emotional reunion with a fan.
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Pereira initially met Ashton during a visit to a cancer treatement
center in Australia in June 2024. Ashton was battling cancer and
expected to lose his hair due to the treatments. An avid Pereira
fan, Ashton asked his idol to shave his hair, and the UFC champ
obliged with tears in his eyes.
However, the story seemingly has a fairytale ending, as Pereira was
much happier when he reunited with Ashton during a recent trip to
Australia. While he had to once leave muay thai practice to battle
cancer, Ashton confirmed that he is now three months cancer-free.
While “Poatan” is a two-division UFC champ, the Brazilian hailed
Ashton as a real fighter.
“I’m here with Ashton,” Pereira said in a video on Instagram. “I
don’t know if you remember, about a year ago or so I came to
Australia… I cut his hair at the institute of cancer here in
Australia. It was something very emotional, very heavy for me; I
cried. I got emotional. To see this guy’s recovery. He told me that
he was training muay thai. He had to stop because of the cancer.
And now, he’s fought against cancer, he beat cancer after a hard
fight and treatments. And now three months cancer-free. A big
inspiration… This is what you call fighting.”
Pereira won the middleweight title against Israel
Adesanya in 2022 and lost it in their immediate rematch. He
then moved up to light heavyweight where he won the title and has
since defended it three times, most recently against Khalil
Rountree at UFC 307 in October 2024. The 37-year-old will put
his crown on the line against Magomed
Ankalaev in the main event at UFC 313
on March 8 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.