UFC Champion Announces Split From Partner After One Week Of Dating

A UFC champion has announced his shock split with his partner just a week after going public with their relationship.

Alex Pereira went public with his relationship with fellow UFC star Tracy Cortez on New Year's Eve celebrations.

The UFC fighters shared a kiss as they shared snaps of each other on their respective social media accounts.

It was made somewhat awkward given Cortez's previous relationship with former UFC featherweight title challenge Brian Ortega, who even got a tattoo of her name on his lip.

Ortega and Cortez were engaged until they separated a few years later.

But Cortez's romance with the UFC light-heavyweight champion is already over.

Pereira took to social media to confirm their amicable split.

On Instagram, he wrote: "Thank you my fans for all the love. I would like to communicate with you guys that even though me and Tracy shared great moments together, we decided it would be better for the both of us to go our separate ways. I wish her nothing but the best in her journey."

Pereira appears to be taking the break up well given his social media activity moments after announcing his split with Cortez.

• If you want to see even more from SPORTbible, make us a preferred source on Google.

He posted a video of himself running in the torrential rain, accompanied with his trademark phrase.

"God is good. Motivated. CHAMA," he wrote.

Alex Pereira’s IG story after announcing he and Tracy Cortez broke up 😅 pic.twitter.com/y2MRD6xivF

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) January 9, 2026

What's next for Alex Pereira and Tracy Cortez?

In terms of their UFC careers, Pereira and Cortez both have a big 2026 in store.

'Poatan' ended 2025 on a high after reclaiming the UFC light-heavyweight championship against Magomed Ankalaev.

He stopped Ankalaev in the first round of their rematch in October after losing to him in their first meeting in March 2025.

It remains to be seen who's next for Pereira, but a showdown against Jon Jones at the White House appears to be off the cards.

That's according to Jones himself as he claims Dana White won't allow it.

He explained: "Pereira wants to fight me but I don’t think Dana White’s gonna allow that to happen, it’ll be interesting to see what Dana wants."

As for Cortez, she will be looking to return to the win column, having lost her last Octagon appearance.

She suffered a submission defeat to Erin Blanchfield at UFC 322 last November.

Cortez, however, is still ranked inside the top 10 of the UFC women's flyweight rankings, so she's likely a few wins away from being in the title picture.