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UFC champion Alex Pereira shows his soft side with cancer patients on Australia visit

The fighter made a heartwarming gesture to one person who stole his heart

Alex Pereira
Alex PereiraLAPRESSE

People are used to seeing Alex Pereira batter his opponents inside the octagon after a successful career in the UFC which has seen him crowned a light heavyweight champion.

But it turns out he has a soft side that not many get to see, which came to the surface during a visit to a hospital while he was in Australia.

Alex Pereira shatters Francis Ngannou's punching record at UFC PITwitter

The fighter most recently defeated Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 and since then, he has been enjoying some downtime. Behind his tattooed exterior, it turns out Pereira has a gentle soul.

On a visit down under to Australia, Pereira bumped into some of his fans and even got the tattoo gun out to ink one of them.

His caring side came to the fore during a visit to a cancer hospital, where the Brazilian ed images of several patients he met and spoke about his experience meeting them.

"We have moments of joy and sadness. This moment was very difficult for me. I visited the hospital and saw children with cancer," Pereira said.

"I was touched that a boy trained in Muay Thai was forced to give up because of cancer."

Pereira was happy to stand and pose for photos with fans young and old, and even agreed to shave the head of one patient, who it appeared was starting treatment.

Alex Pereira, a hard hitter in the octagon and soft outside it

Pereira is renowned for his charity work and has a long history of helping those who are less fortunate or faced with a living crisis.

Having been born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the 36-year-old is familiar with the trials and tribulations of being raised in the favelas of one of Brazil's most populated cities.

He has previously reached out to people who were left homeless when floods hit some parts of Brazil earlier this year and the 'Poatan' actually donated around $120,000 in flood relief for his hometown of Sao Bernardo do Campo when heavy rainfall arrived.

It's not just the less fortunate who he helps, however. Pereira, as a veteran in the game, has been known to reach out to his fellow fighters and even gifted a Harley Davidson motorcycle to Glover Teixeira.

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