Alex Perira, the new middleweight UFc champion, coming fresh off the defeat of long-time champion Israel Adesanya, has been teasing UFCwelterweight Khamza Chimaev with callouts lately, the last of which is to a Brazilian Folkstyle wrestling match in Huka-Huka.
Khamzat Chimaev, although fighting in the welterweight divisions of the UFC, is seen as a contender for Alex Pereira’s new middleweight title. The two have had a feud going on, with Pereira disclosing not long ago that Chimaev rejected a fight with him at light heavyweight in Brazil in January of 2022.
Just recently, Alex Pereira took part in a traditional folkstyle wrestling event in Brazil in what is known as Huka-Huka to the indigenous people. As he did, he showed some takedown defense skills and used the occasion to tease Khamzat once again, saying:
“Chimaev trying to take me down.”
Khamzat was not far behind though, in responding:
“This is your level” and adding a bunch of laughing emojis to reinforce his point.
Huka-Huka is an interesting indigenous folk style of wrestling common to the people of Xingu from the Mato Grosso region. During the ceremony of Kuarup, the fighters start on their knees, and one fighter, usually with the title of chief, calls the start of the match. THen, both fighters raise and circle each other, until their eyes meet and they engage in a takedown battle with the goal of lifting the opponent in the air before slamming them to the ground.
Both male and female fighters competin Huka-Huka, and many UFC champions have participated in it before Alex Pereira.
Anderson Silva and Demian Maia are two UFC legends who have previously participated in this folk style of wrestling, which has fighters that grapple body-painted to mimic jaguars as part of the ceremony.
As ceremonial s it is, it is obviously very effective, with the São Paulo State Military Police currently running a pilot program introducing the wrestling style to its training.
Alex Pereira, who was ridiculed by the community after getting a brown belt in BJJ a few days removed from his victory over Adesanya, who clearly out-grappled him in the octagon is far from the best grappler in the division. CHimaev himself is a purple belt but has a Dagestani wrestling background which we all know works in the UFC.
