Considered to be one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts today — despite not speaking English — Alex Pereira put his popularity to the test during an autograph session at Shopping Eldorado in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this past Saturday.
Up arriving at the mall, “Poatan” was gretting by a crowd that had already gathered in the shopping center’s corridors. With shouts of “Chama! Chama! Chama!”, the crowd waited patiently to take a photo or receive an autograph from their idol. In a video published on Instagram, Poatan spoke of the emotion of receiving affection from his hometown fans.
“It was beyond what I expected, to see all these people leaving their home on a holiday to stay in such a long line waiting to take a picture with me. See a small child crying when taking a photo with me. I´m really speechless,” Pereira said.
The UFC light heavyweight champion also recently participated in one of the most popular podcasts in the country, “Podpah,” where he made it clear that he did not consider fighting Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 310.
“Now it’s time to rest. There’s a lot of work. I talked about my travels. I can´t cancel it. Also I want to rest a little,” he said.
Pereira also revealed some details about his debut on the big screen in the A24 action thriller “Onslaught” as the villain The Butcher.
“I’m going to be filming for six weeks. I’m going to act, but I like to do something that won’t have to speak. It’s going to be like a Terminator, where the guy only says one word at the end,” he said. “I’m going to do the whole film without talking. I’m going to be there from beginning to end and at the end I’m going to say, ‘Chama.’”
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