The UFC's Youngest Female Fighter Just Got Her First Win With a Brutal Knee KO
Alice Pereira started martial arts as a hobby in 2022. By 2024 she was the Cage Masters champion calling out the UFC on a custom t-shirt. Mick Maynard signed her on Christmas Eve. Tonight at UFC Vegas 115 she knocked Hailey Cowan out cold with a knee at 20 years old.
John Brooke
April 5, 2026
No, she's not related to Alex Pereira. I know that's what you're thinking. Same last name, both Brazilian, both violent. But no relation. Now that we've got that out of the way, let me tell you about Alice "Golden Girl" Pereira because what just happened tonight at UFC Vegas 115 was nasty and the story behind it is even better.
Pereira caught Hailey Cowan with a stepping knee to the jaw late in the second round and Cowan went completely unconscious. Folded backwards bro. First UFC win for the youngest female fighter in the promotion's history. She's 20 years old. She started training in 2022. Not 2012. Not as a kid in some elite gym. Three years ago. And she's already knocking people out in the UFC.
That timeline is genuinely insane.
She Picked Up Fighting Because She Was Curious
Most origin stories on here start with a kid who was born into martial arts. Parents who trained. Gyms from age six. Amateur records that go back a decade. Alice Pereira's story doesn't start like that at all.
She grew up in Feira de Santana, a city in Bahia, Brazil. She always wanted to try martial arts but never had access to a gym. When she finally did in 2022, she walked in, tried a kickboxing class, and something clicked. She's talked about how she treated it as a hobby at first. Just something to do. Not a career plan. Not a path to the UFC. Just a girl who thought fighting looked cool and wanted to try it.
She added jiu-jitsu then Sanda. Then one day she won the Bahia Sanda championship and realized this wasn't a hobby anymore. Her coach Edilson Teixeira proposed she transition into MMA and so she said yes. And everything after that happened at a speed that doesn't make sense.
Pro at 17, Undefeated in 17 Months
Alice Pereira made her professional MMA debut on August 18, 2023. She was 17 years old. She submitted Raquel de Andrade in the first round by rear naked choke.
From there, the run was violent and fast. She beat Sharolayne Almeida. She beat Kristiane Silva. She finished Hosana Enny in 11 seconds in Dubai. Eleven seconds lol. She was racking up stoppages on the regional scene in Bahia like she was speedrunning a career.
Her sixth fight was the big one. December 2024, Cage Masters FC 2, against Samara Santos for the bantamweight title. Santos had over 20 professional fights including time in ONE Championship. This was the first real test. Pereira dominated for 25 minutes. Two knockdowns, Four takedowns. Superman punches. Flying knees. Unanimous decision. She won the belt.
Six fights. Six wins. In only seventeen months. And she was 19 years old.
The T-Shirt Callout
This is my favorite part of the whole story. After winning the Cage Masters title, Pereira put on a t-shirt that had her record printed on it and screamed at the camera: "Micki, six fights, six wins. Look at me. I deserve it. I promise you all."
She was calling out Mick Maynard. The UFC matchmaker. By name. On camera. Wearing a custom t-shirt she made for the occasion. At 19 years old. After six professional fights. From a regional promotion in Bahia, Brazil.
That is either the most confident or the most delusional thing you could ever do lol. Turns out though it was confidence. Because Maynard was watching.
The Christmas Eve Phone Call
On December 24, 2024, Mick Maynard got on a video call with Alice Pereira and offered her a UFC contract. She cried. Her team cried. The moment was captured on video and if you watch it and don't feel something you might be broken.
She was 19 years old. She'd been training for two years. She'd been a professional fighter for seventeen months. And the biggest MMA promotion on the planet was calling her on Christmas Eve to tell her she was in.
Her mom, who originally wanted Alice to follow a more traditional career path, watched her daughter go from "I'm going to try a kickboxing class" to "I'm in the UFC" in the span of about two years. That's not just a career trajectory. That's a rocket launch.
The Youngest Ever, The Split Decision Loss, and the Bounce Back
Pereira made her UFC debut at Noche UFC on September 13, 2025, against Montserrat Rendon. At 19 years, 8 months, and 24 days old, she became the youngest woman to ever compete in the UFC. She broke the record that had stood since Chan Mi Jeon debuted in 2017.
She lost by split decision. Close fight. She showed the striking that got her signed but Rendon's experience was the difference. First loss of her career. First time going the distance and coming up short.
A lot of prospects crumble after that first loss. The hype cools off. The confidence takes a hit. The UFC books you against someone else who just lost and the "prospect" label quietly gets replaced with "roster filler." That's the reality for most young fighters who lose their debut.
Pereira went the other direction. She relocated to Las Vegas to train. She got in the gym every day. And tonight, in her second UFC fight, she showed exactly why the UFC signed a teenager from Bahia in the first place.
The Knee
Cowan had actually been winning the second round. She took Pereira down, held her on the mat, controlled the position. The kind of grinding grappling that wins rounds on the scorecards. Then Cowan backed off and let Pereira stand up.
That was the mistake.
Pereira stood up, fired a one two, and then stepped through with a left knee that landed flush on Cowan's jaw. Cowan collapsed backwards and was completely unconscious before she hit the floor. The referee jumped in but honestly the fight was over the moment the knee connected.
6-1. Five finishes. First UFC win at 20 years old. The youngest female fighter in UFC history just got her first knockout in the promotion and she did it with a highlight reel knee that's going to be on every MMA account by morning.
Why This Matters
Alice Pereira's story is impossible to ignore because the timeline makes no sense. She started training in 2022. She's in the UFC by the end of 2024. She's the youngest woman in the promotion's history by 2025. And she's knocking people out cold by 2026.
Most fighters spend a decade getting to the UFC. Pereira did it in two years. Most prospects who lose their debut take a while to recover. Pereira came back and delivered a knockout that's going to be on highlight reels for weeks. And she's only 20 bro. The bantamweight division has Kayla Harrison at the top right now and Pereira isn't close to that level yet. But she's 20. She has time that nobody else in the division has. And if the improvement between her debut loss and tonight's knee is any indication, the ceiling is a long way from here.
A girl from Feira de Santana who walked into a kickboxing class in 2022 because she was curious. Made a t-shirt calling out the UFC matchmaker. Got signed on Christmas Eve. Became the youngest woman in UFC history. And tonight, she put someone to sleep with a knee that shook the Meta APEX.
Alice Pereira just introduced herself. So pay attention.
Frequently Asked Questions About Alice Pereira
Who is Alice Pereira?
Alice "Golden Girl" Pereira is a 20 year old Brazilian bantamweight fighting in the UFC. Born on December 20, 2005, in Feira de Santana, Bahia, she is the youngest woman to ever compete in the promotion. She holds a professional record of 6-1 with five finishes.
Is Alice Pereira related to Alex Pereira?
No. Despite sharing a last name and both being Brazilian, they have no family connection. Alice trains at Life MMA and Portugal Top Team in Bahia. Alex Pereira's sister in the UFC is Aline Pereira, not Alice.
When did Alice Pereira start training?
Pereira started training in 2022, initially treating it as a hobby. She began with kickboxing, added jiu-jitsu and Sanda, and turned professional in MMA in August 2023 at age 17.
How did Pereira get signed to the UFC?
After winning the Cage Masters FC bantamweight title at 19, Pereira called out UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard on camera while wearing a custom t-shirt displaying her record. Maynard called her on Christmas Eve 2024 to offer her a contract.
What happened in Pereira's UFC debut?
She lost a split decision to Montserrat Rendon at Noche UFC on September 13, 2025. At 19 years, 8 months, and 24 days old, she became the youngest woman to ever fight in the UFC.
What happened at UFC Vegas 115?
Pereira knocked out Hailey Cowan with a devastating knee to the jaw at 4:24 of the second round, earning her first UFC victory.
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