#8: Tiago Pereira
Age: 28
Representing: Brazil
Record: 9-0
Pereira is by far the best bantamweight prospect in South/Central America so it was a big surprise he wasn’t on DWCS in 2025. After a pair of regional wins, he’s gone 7-0 for Jungle Fight against opponents with a combined 62-15 record. That includes a title win and three defenses, all by finish, versus prospects like Vinicius Alves (7-0) and João Pedro Saldanha (12-3). Pereira is a shredded physical specimen who’s comfortable wherever the fight goes. He has good volume on the feet, moves his head and feet well to set his range, and will attack the body. A huge body kick KO of Alves in less than a minute showed his raw power, but also great precision in the shot placement.
Pereira’s BJJ threats are diverse and calculated, though he can lose positions sometimes and will spend time trying to fight from his back. His GnP and offensive wrestling have improved over time, which Tiago displayed while beating Saldanha. He recognized that playing BJJ against another strong practitioner wasn’t the best path to a win, so he focused more on positioning and accumulating damage. That set him up to take over in R3 and finish the fight with a big flurry.
After more than a year unaccounted for, Pereira resurfaced just a couple of weeks ago. He proceeded to run over Davi Almeida (8-3) for an 80-second RNC and another successful title defense. If anyone needed reminding, he’s a top talent at bantamweight and is slated for big things next year.