It’s been over two years since Alex Pereira made his light heavyweight debut at UFC 291 against Jan Blachowicz. In the 24 months that followed, the Brazilian superstar went on an incredible run, capturing the 205-pound title and defending it three times against top names like Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka. Most recently, ‘Poatan’ regained the title he briefly lost by knocking out Magomed Ankalaev in just 80 seconds at UFC 320.
His dominant character, marked by several short appearances, even earned praise from Dana White for his anytime, anywhere attitude. That’s why fans were surprised when Joaquin Buckley recently claimed that Pereira once refused to fight him back when both fought at middleweight. Now Pereira has addressed the situation himself and shared his side of the story in a candid post on social media.
Alex Pereira Shares Posts From 2022 Claiming Joaquin Buckley Was The One Who Avoided Him
For those unfamiliar, Buckley claimed he was offered the opportunity to fight Pereira during the Brazilian’s early rise to middleweight fame in 2022, before his two iconic fights with Israel Adesanya.
According to ‘New Mansa’, after his original opponent withdrew on short notice, his then-manager called him with the opportunity to step in and take on the future two-division champion. Buckley insists he was ready and eager to take the fight, even confident he could knock out Pereira.
He said this in a YouTube video, “He (Alex Pereira) couldn’t do the fight because they said they wouldn’t finish in time. I was going to knock that guy out.”
However, it’s safe to say that Pereira did not take these comments lightly. In a recent Instagram storythe Brazilian seemed to respond by sharing a screenshot of a direct message from 2022 about the exchange between the two.
“Why did you send me this message?” Pereira began. “Out of 15 [fighters] who walked, you were the first!! Now go back to the end of the line.”
Alex Pereira shares old messages with Joaquin Buckley after Buckley claims he turned down a fight against him in 2022:
“Out of the fifteen that walked, you were the first! Now go back to the end of the line.” 😳 pic.twitter.com/kVWSGwblrd
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 29, 2025
The post quickly caught the attention of fans, reigniting the debate over whether the fight offer actually happened and whether Buckley was ever really next in line for ‘Poatan’. For those unfamiliar, Buckley began his UFC career at middleweight (185 lbs) in 2020, debuting with a knockout loss to Kevin Holland.
Over the next two years, he went 5-4 in the division, suffering defeats to fighters like Nassourdine Imavov and Chris Curtis. However, his career took a major turn when he decided to move up to welterweight. Buckley made an immediate impact, scoring a spectacular knockout win over Andre Fialho in his divisional debut in May 2023.
READ ALSO: Alex Pereira sidelined with broken foot after UFC 320 title triumph
From there, he continued an impressive six-fight winning streak, picking up victories over top names like Colby Covington, Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson. However, his momentum was halted earlier this year when he suffered a setback against Kamaru Usman at UFC Atlanta in June.
Similarly, Pereira also started his Octagon journey as a middleweight in 2021 where he quickly climbed the rankings and captured the middleweight title by degree from Israel and UFC 281. After losing the rematch at UFC 287, Pereira moved up to 205 pounds and has been dominant ever since, cementing himself as one of the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighters.
Most recently, Pereira made headlines again after agreeing to a blockbuster heavyweight showdown with Jon Jones at the UFC White House event scheduled for June 2026.
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