Alice Pereira’s dream came true when she became the youngest female athlete to sign with the UFC, but she came up short against Montserrat Rendon at Noche UFC on Sept. 13, losing a split decision in San Antonio. Despite the setback, her team is confident that “Golden Girl” has a bright future ahead of her in the promotion.
Days after the loss, Pereira’s manager Lucas Lutkus wrote a post on social media comparing her to Giannis Antetokounmpo, saying how the Greek-Nigerian player joined the NBA when he was too young, but the Bucks trusted his talent to help him grow and develop at the biggest stage possible. That’s what he intends on doing with Pereira in the UFC.
Pereira started training martial arts in 2002 but only decided to start a career in combat sports in June 2023. Pereira made her pro MMA debut two months later, and 16 months later, inked a deal with the UFC with a pro record of 6-0.
“In her fifth fight, Alice beat Karla [Lacerda], a respected boxer in Bahia, and knocked her out,” Lutkus told MMA Fighting. “In that fight we said, ‘Man, this girl has huge potential.’ We realized that Karla’s level wasn’t far from the level of the lower-tier UFC fighters. We decided to speed up the process and try to get her into the UFC as quickly as possible so she could be inside that whole UFC Performance Institute program. We didn’t push for a developmental contract, especially because nowadays that’s more of an exception than the rule. And the UFC, like us, understood that she was ready to take this big step.”
Lutkus looks at other fighters on his stable as examples that losing your octagon debut doesn’t mean you’re not good enough to be on the UFC roster.
“I’ve already had two very similar cases that have worked out really well, Luana Santos and Ailin Perez,” Lutkus said. “Both of them got into the UFC with about the same number of fights as Alice and evolved so, so much inside the UFC — more than in their pre-UFC phase. Luana even moved to Vegas and is at the P.I. every day, while Ailin moved to Miami but does a lot of work with the P.I. as well, including strength and conditioning, nutrition, and weight cutting.”
“We believe she lost more because of a strategic mistake and from feeling the pressure of the debut, classic octagon jitters,” he continued. “That’s normal, especially for a 19-year-old. But I don’t think the result of that fight affects anything in the long run. Ailin Perez is living proof of that. She entered the UFC and was submitted by Stephanie Egger — who isn’t even in the UFC anymore —, and today Ailin is top 10 in the division and hasn’t lost since. … Alice could have been more aggressive from the start, but she felt the normal nerves, and that won’t be there in the next fight.”
Pereira plans on traveling to Las Vegas in November to train with fellow UFC athletes, such as Luana Santos, and work with the Performance Institute crew, and Lutkus said “the evolution curve she’ll have over these next six to eight months before her next fight will be huge.”
Pereira, who made around $100 for her last pre-UFC victory in Brazil, pocketed $10,000 in defeat at Noche UFC. That money will help her invest in a high-level camp, mixing experiences both inside and outside of Brazil.
“Imagine if in her next fight everything goes right and she scores a big knockout,” said Lutkus, who is in no rush to book her next assignment. “I think her potential is massive, and her media potential is even bigger. Her growth curve is huge, especially now that she has this structure. If she were fighting in smaller events, she wouldn’t have this support, nor the ability to go to Vegas without giving up everything she already has set up for her in [Brazil].
“From here on, she’s only going to get better and better as an athlete. There are so many things that make her a rough diamond ready to be polished, and we have all the time in the world to do it.”
