Michel Pereira has his first fight booked since the UFC let him go. The Brazilian middleweight will meet In Su Hwang at ZFN 5 on Dec. 19. Chan Sung Jung’s promotion announced the bout Monday, and the card streams live on UFC Fight Pass. So the company that cut him in July will still be carrying his comeback.
Pereira (32-15, 2 NC) landed in free agency after a decision loss to Shara Magomedov in June, and he has not let that one go. Magomedov held Pereira’s hair during grappling exchanges, and referee Herb Dean never punished it. Bloody Elbow reported that Pereira blamed Dean for not enforcing the rules, called the result “compromised” and planned to appeal.
The 33-year-old finished 10-6 in the Octagon across two weight classes. His wins include Khaos Williams, Santiago Ponzinibbio, Michał Oleksiejczuk and Niko Price. Eight of those 10 wins came in one streak. After Anthony Hernandez stopped him in 2024, the only time Pereira got his hand raised was a split decision over Zachary Reese, and he won just one of his final five UFC fights.
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South Korea is familiar ground. Before the UFC came calling, Pereira went 3-0 under the Road FC banner with three knockouts, as Guilherme Cruz pointed out at MMA Fighting.
Hwang (9-2) has Road FC on his résumé too, as a former middleweight champion there. The 32-year-old headlined ZFN’s last card in May and stopped Bellator and PFL veteran Alex Polizzi in Round 3. He got his shot on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2025 and dropped a unanimous decision to Paddy McCorry, which kept the UFC contract out of reach. Seven of his nine pro wins came by knockout.
He has never seen a middleweight of Pereira’s caliber, and he probably doesn’t care. Beating a 16-fight UFC veteran on a card the UFC is streaming is about as loud a pitch as a guy coming off a Contender Series loss can make.
I like this one. Jung booked a real fight here instead of a soft landing pad for a name. Hwang hits hard and has every reason to swing for the fences, while Pereira needs a clean finish with no hair to grab and no referee to blame. He’s spent five months arguing his last fight was taken from him. On Dec. 19 he gets 15 minutes to argue his case with his hands, in the same country where he first made his name.
