Athletes
Alice Pereira Wants To Be A Shining Example
After Making History As The Youngest Female Fighter In UFC History, Brazilian Starlet Alice Pereira Wants To Continue Inspiring The Next Generation.
September 13, 2025, will live forever in the memory of Alice Pereira. Aged just 19 years, eight months, and 24 days, the Brazilian stepped into the Octagon at Noche UFC in San Antonio as the youngest female fighter in UFC history. It was an unforgettable moment for a fighter who had risen to the biggest stage in the sport after just five professional fights.
“It was a magical night, a very important night,” she recalled. “To be a part of that, and to be a part of the UFC, the dream of my entire life, it was a perfect night. Well I couldn’t say it was perfect, because I didn’t come out with a win, but as far as everything that came with it, and what it carried, it was an amazing night.”
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Pereira isn’t afraid to admit that the youngest female fighter record was something she was actively chasing when she called on UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard to give her a shot in the Octagon.
“It was the moment of my life. I would lying if I didn't say it,” she admitted. “It was my ambition to actually do that. I wanted to be that. I wanted to be the youngest (female fighter) to be in the UFC, and I was able to accomplish that. So to actually be able to be the youngest at that moment, it was a Top-1 moment of my life.”
The fight itself didn’t go her way, as she found herself on the losing end of a split-decision verdict against Montse Rendon in Texas. But despite the outcome of her Octagon debut, Pereira says she’s taken a boatload of positives from that night, and hopes to put her learnings to good use as she makes the walk for the second time this weekend at UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs Duncan.
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“The defeat came with a very detailed and deep analysis of myself (on the) technical and physical level, because I’m somebody that just gave so much to this,” she said. “All of a sudden, at that point, you wonder, what was missing? What was the switch that needed to be flipped in order for me to get that win? And I would say that it’s a lot of therapy to go through this and to understand. What you extract out of this is there’s something that can be done. There’s something else that can be improved.”
That realization that the solution lies in the pursuit of constant improvement has helped spur on Pereira in training as she prepared for her sophomore appearance. Pereira will take on Hailey Cowan in a 135-pound matchup at the Meta APEX, and she’s excited to get the chance to compete in Las Vegas for the first time.
“Definitely, you can feel it in the air. It's got the air of the ‘Fight Capital of the World,’” she said. “You can see when you come here and you start walking around in the streets and seeing everything, saying, ‘This is the place where the UFC was founded.’ I’s rooted into it. And everybody's here, you can see everything. You can see the fighters. You can see everybody. And you can tell that it's important to actually be in the middle of this environment here.”
The matchup itself pits Pereira up against a fighter with more career wins than she has fights, which is sure to offer another learning opportunity. But when push comes to shove, experience alone doesn’t win fights. It’s all about who can dictate terms in the heat of the battle.
“We’re talking about a clash of styles. Two fighters that want to, and have to, impose their game upon one another,” Pereira explained. “The winner will be the one that is able to dictate the rhythm and when they’re able to actually to play her game.
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“We are prepared. We've worked a lot. We know what she's all about. She likes the grappling. She likes to work against the fence. We worked a lot on that, and also to improve my game, so I can take it up to her and be the one to dictate the fight… I am very confident that the work was done. I'm very confident that we did the right things to prepare for this fight, and I'm very confident that I'm gonna come out with the win on Saturday.”
Pereira said that she’d love nothing more than to seal her first UFC win with a first-round knockout. But said she’s ready to go wherever the fight takes her. That maturity to know to let a fight come to you is also reflected in her attitude towards her career overall. Despite her fast-track promotion to the biggest stage in the sport, Pereira said she’s going to learn as she goes and progress at her own pace.
"The vibe right now is chill, not to rush, not to want to do things ahead of time,” she said. “I know that there's a lot of talent in this division. There's a lot of great athletes out there, I think it’s an embarrassment of riches, with what we have, (there’s) so many good athletes. But many of those may even retire by the time I get to the top 15, so I might even get to face them.
“So right now, we don't have any hurry to do anything, but we will take advantage of opportunities, like I've always done. Doors have opened, and I've busted through all those doors throughout my career. That's what got me here.”
And after already writing her name into the record books, the 20-year-old said she hopes that, by watching her chasing her dreams, the next generation of fighting stars will be inspired to do the same.
“For future generations, I would say ‘Yes, you can. You can achieve your dreams,’” she said. “I would say to any young boy or girl, it doesn't matter if days are hard, if you wake up tired, you train tired, you go to bed tired, you’re tired all the time. It doesn’t matter. It is worth it. And if you continue to work on it, you will be able to achieve your dreams. So I would say to the kids out there, ‘Yes, you can.’”
UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs Duncan took place live from Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!