Working in an auto shop can be hard physical labor; torquing lug nuts and hoisting motors on a daily basis will give you some serious arm strength. MMA fighter Alex Periera credits his humble beginnings working in a tire shop in Brazil with being able to put his opponents on the canvas.
If you don’t follow “the fights” Alex “Poatan” Periera has become one of MMA’s most devastating knockout artists. He has won two championship belts with only 11 fights in the UFC. First, he defeated the reigning champ Isreal Adysanya for the middleweight belt (185 pounds) and after losing the belt in a rematch moved up in weight to the light-heavyweight division (205 pounds). He just recently defeated Jiri Prochakza for the championship. Winning not one but two championships with fewer than a dozen fights is almost unheard of. Though, prior to entering the UFC Periera was a former World Kickboxing champion in two weight classes with a record of 33 wins, seven losses, and 21 knockouts.
Instagram account @LeftHookClub has a short video where Periera visits his old job and chats with his former boss at the tire shop. The interaction is in Portuguese with English subtitles.
His boss says that Alex started working at the shop at twelve years old and because they didn’t have much in the way of power tools, Periera developed his strength slinging heavy tires. This eventually translated into what his fellow competitors call “scary knockout power.”
A hardworking kid eventually turned into a hardworking fighter with a highlight reel that is rapidly making Periera a fan favorite. And while he seems to be a pretty chill dude outside the Octagon, if given the choice between taking one of his punches or getting hit by a car…you might be better off with the car.