Alex Pereira proudly represents his indigenous roots before and after every single one of his fights, from the panache to the walkout song, and the man behind Sepultura’s “Itsári” was “very emotional”
when he found out that “Poatan” selected it as his music before octagon wars.
Max Cavalera, co-founder of Sepultura, recently released a new Soufly album titled “Chama”, a direct inspiration to Pereira’s famous catchword.
“I never had contact with Alex,” Cavalera told MMA Fighting. “[But] I hope he’s happy that we made the title of new album a tribute to him and Brazil.”
“Itsári” means roots in the Xavante language, and Cavalera said he was surprised to hear that Pereira, one of UFC’s biggest stars today, picked his song to play in the arena when he’s about to enter the octagon to compete.
“I was very emotional with ‘Poatan’ using ‘Itsári’ as his walkout song for a fight,” Cavalera said. “It’s awesome to see your work being recognized like that after so many years. Full tribal strength, xavante warrior!”
“I watched it with my Zyon, who’s a UFC fan, and it was a wonderful surprise,” he added. “I think ‘Poatan’ has the best walkout in all UFC. No one does it better. He captures the spirit of the jungle, the indigenous warrior.”
Cavalera said he loves to mix music and sports, from his Brazilian soccer team Palmeiras to the Detroit Lions, and embraces the connection between heavy metal, UFC and the indigenous culture.
“He’s definitely inspiring the young kids that didn’t know the tribes of Brazil,” Cavalera said. “We have more than 700 tribes, and we’re proud of our tribal roots.”
Even though Soufly’s new album is titled after Pereira’s tradicional “Chama”, the musician hopes that the UFC fighter sticks with “Itsári” for his upcoming battle this weekend in Las Vegas, when he challenges 205-pound champion Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 320.
“I’ll watch it,” Cavalera said. “I’ll be on tour with my brother, playing Chaos A.D. here in America, but we’ll watch it and send him good vibrations. He will win, with ‘Chama’ in his veins.”
