With the UFC being a minefield in the fighting landscape, there is something about Alex Pereira’s strike that can be placed in the category of precious moments. It’s more theatrical than most, of course. There’s that ritualistic, slowly approaching warrior step he takes as he enters the arena, harkening back to ancient Paxató traditions that we Westerners can only imagine. There is the arrow he fires at the poor fool waiting for him in the cage, followed by the primal scream. And of course the piercing, stone gaze, his dark eyes, two small windows into the abyss.

It’s all very poetic – but the bottom line is that the things he creates just can’t last. It just doesn’t work. It’s a beautiful, fleeting thing for a 37-year-old transitional fighter who came as a B-side backstory to Israel Adesanya to give us these moments. It is impossible for him to handle the escalation of operations with carefree ease. Winning titles. The defense of them. That he can be at any event, be it Madison Square Garden or a gala like UFC 300, and ignite a fan base through a collective sense of awe.

He did it again at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, waiting for Khalil Rountree’s headhunting techniques as long as necessary. Even his patience tells the story of a hunter. The force coming at him only increased his sense of danger, but the sniper in him never stopped. Peirera used the space between them like a force shield to wield his magic, to balance, deflect, deflect, stalk, and finally strike. He punished aggression and imposed a tax on the greats who came his way. The push became the worst rebuke in the game. The leg kicks also took their toll and set up the kill.

And the killing? It’s a mix of violence that ultimately created a hero from Rountree and his ability to endure punishment. In the end, which came in the final moments of the fourth round, Rountree fought the ghosts. Deprived of his resources, he still lashed out at what happened to him. The final acts of his hopes and ultimately his delusions. A wilderness. It felt heroic because Pereira had allowed the muscle-bound man to exhaust himself before emerging like the blood-soaked tide, leaving only his instincts to survive. In the end, Pereira brought out that toughness as part of the story.

That’s what great people do.

And it’s about Pereira’s lore, which was born from the Adesanya rivalry and has now become the UFC’s biggest show. Does Rountree deserve the title shot? If we argue, maybe not. Magomed Ankalaev probably deserved more. But that’s it our quibble. We can wring our hands all we want, but Pereira just says “yes” to whoever the UFC puts in front of him and then gives the same rude treatment to the man who signed up. Rountree joined the ranks of Jiri Prochazka, Jamahal Hill and Jan Blachowicz who tried. This is a grueling encounter, and only Blachowicz was tough enough to survive the distance. Otherwise there would be no need for judges.

Or anything else, actually. UFC 307 had moments, but it was largely destined to be a lackluster affair. Forget the “cruel” judgments and the fights that achieved nothing. Pereira has a habit of making a lasting impression and stealing the show. He did it at UFC 295. He did it at UFC 303. He does it because he has no other option.

No, it can’t last. It won’t.

That’s the drug of fighting, that everything that feels impossible actually is. But the sense of fleetingness is intoxicatingly drowned out by the frequency with which it occurs. Who fights so well, so much? Pereira will lose at some point, perhaps in his next fight against Ankalaev. Maybe against Tom Aspinall or – can you imagine – Jon Jones. But this certainty only adds to the exhilaration. The fact that Pereira defies all conventions and trends and fends off the inevitable with one arrow after another makes no sense and doesn’t have to.

What is forever is what he has already done. Since losing his middleweight title in early 2023, Pereira is 5-0 at light heavyweight. During the same period, Jones and Conor McGregor, the company’s biggest player, have fought each other a total of zero times. In fact, Pereira has filled in for each of them at events they were scheduled to headline. Pereira was the savior of the UFC in 2024. Undaunted and able to follow in his footsteps, he is happy to forego it when necessary. Despite Dana White’s reluctance to face Jones as the GOAT and pound-for-pound king, his inactivity has turned him into a cold campfire.

Meanwhile, Pereira keeps rolling.

In this game, the word “warrior” is used so often that the meaning is lost. But what do we mean by warrior? Because it seems that Alex Pereira – with his incredible success in three title defenses this year alone and the fearlessness to never say no – has the essential ingredients. This strike alone is so intense that one wonders how long it can last.

Maybe the beauty is in not knowing but enjoying it for as long as possible.