The Netherlands’ Yousri Belgaroui had a long journey to the UFC. But after he finally arrived, former light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira stole the show. Belgaroui, who failed to secure a contract with the UFC after losing to Marco Tulio in August 2023, found his break after beating Taiga Iwasaki in Dana White’s Contender Series in September last year. More than a year later, he was making his debut on UFC Seattle on Saturday night.
His opponent? Mansur Abdul-Malik. Belgaroui controlled the fight with long-range striking and damaging leg kicks, dominating early rounds. Abdul-Malik had brief success with takedowns but struggled to maintain control. Belgaroui hurt him badly in round two and finished him in round three with a brutal knee, earning a TKO victory. But when the spotlight was his to soak, Alex Pereira showed up.
“CHAMA 
A loud ovation for @AlexPereiraUFC at #UFCSeattle,” UFC on Paramount+ highlighted the moment on X.
CHAMA
A loud ovation for @AlexPereiraUFC at #UFCSeattle
@paramountplus pic.twitter.com/TcAwJlZ5gF
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) March 29, 2026
Belgaroui himself doesn’t appear to be bothered by it, as he hyped up the moment during the post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. Pereira had previously fought the middleweight from the Netherlands a total of three times at Glory Kickboxing. While Belgaroui managed to beat ‘Poatan’ the first time in April 2017, the Brazilian secured two wins in the following matches in December of the same year and July of 2018.
Since coming to the UFC, Belgaroui and Pereira have been training together at the same gym Teixeira MMA & Fitness.
