Real or fake? UFC champion Alex Pereira challenged during sparring, delivers vicious knockout punch | Video

Alex Pereira is one of the scariest fighters to ever step foot inside of the Octagon, but he’s also pretty intimidating outside of it. This includes the gym, where Pereira is known to mix it up in sparring.

Just ask former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland. He’s tasted Pereira’s punching power both inside the cage and during practice.

This week, Pereira was back on the mats and eager to showcase his elite level striking once again. Fortunately for the UFC light heavyweight champion, he was presented with a sparring partner more than willing to test his luck. Pereira felt challenged and began to unload some clean shots to the head and body. That was until Pereira closed the distance and unleashed a left hook that left his sparring partner knocked out cold (shown below).

But, wait. Was this all real?

The video has already made the rounds on social media and the MMA community is torn. While it appears some of Pereira’s punches do land, many believe the knockout sequence was staged. Some say there’s even more footage which shows Pereira dropping this dude another time with body shots.

Check out some of the reaction below and let us know what you think!

“Anyone who thinks this is real needs to give their head a wobble.”

“Knocking out your sparring partner is lowkey scummy and I love Alex.”

“The guy challenged him. He wanted that.”

“Nothing serious here. They are just messing around.”

“That guy a fighter? LOL.”

“If you challenge someone then start laughing mid fight you know you f—ked up.”

“Lmao that’s the fakest shit ever.”