Plinio Cruz, one of UFC superstar Alex Pereira’s MMA coaches, won his professional boxing debut for Misfits Boxing.
Cruz, a former MMA fighter himself, took on Gary Olive on Saturday, October 10, at the Misfits Boxing event at Copper Box Arena in London, England.
In a successful pro boxing debut, Cruz won the fight via second-round TKO.
Watch Plinio Cruz Win Pro Boxing Debut
Check out the video below of Cruz winning his pro boxing debut with a knockout.
“Alex Pereira’s coach, Plinio Cruz, just got a 2nd round TKO in his Misfits Boxing debut.”
Cruz is 40 years old and had an 8-9 record as a pro MMA fighter before retiring in 2019. Since then, he has been focused on coaching Pereira, one of the UFC’s top talents, helping his pupil win two UFC championship belts at both middleweight and light heavyweight.
During his MMA career, Cruz held a notable victory over former UFC fighter Azunna Anyanwu, while also having notable losses against former UFC fighters Chris Daukaus and Rafael Natal.
Funny enough, out of Cruz’s eight MMA victories, only one of them came by knockout. Yet, he scored a knockout in his pro boxing debut for Misfits Boxing.
Plinio Cruz in Alex Pereira’s Corner at UFC 335
Now that he’s won his pro boxing debut, Cruz will now focus on helping prepare Pereira for UFC 335, when the MMA superstar takes on Sergei Pavlovich in a highly anticipated heavyweight bout that could determine the next No. 1 contender in the UFC heavyweight division.
Pereira lost his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 in June, but the fight was not without controversy, as several of the strikes that landed on Pereira before the finish connected with the back of his head, which led to him complaining about referee Herb Dean’s inaction during the officiating of the bout.
Pereira tried to get an immediate rematch against Gane, but the UFC chose to go with Josh Hokit instead, who will fight Gane for the undisputed UFC heavyweight title at UFC 334 in November. Pereira, meanwhile, gets a stiff test in the heavyweight division against KO artist Pavlovich.
VIDEO: Alex Pereira’s UFC Coach Plinio Cruz Wins Boxing Debut