Plinio Cruz
At a glance
- Former MMA fighter (8-9) and former Cage Fury Fighting Championships heavyweight champion
- Coached Alex Pereira through wins over Israel Adesanya, Jan Blachowicz and Jiri Prochazka
- Coach of the Year at the 2024 World MMA Awards
Overview
Plinio Cruz is a coach based in the New York area, where he runs Cruz MMA. Before coaching, he fought in MMA with a record of 8 wins and 9 losses, and he held the Cage Fury Fighting Championships heavyweight title, a regional American promotion. That experience shapes his coaching, because he knows what an athlete goes through during camp and inside the cage.
He is best known as Alex Pereira's coach, working alongside Glover Teixeira. He was named Coach of the Year at the 2024 World MMA Awards. His name now comes up alongside Pereira's every time the champion is on a card, in interviews, broadcasts and fight week coverage.
What you'll find
His Instagram account, @pliniocruzmma, shows the behind-the-scenes side of Alex Pereira's preparation: mitt sessions, technical work, moments from camp and fight week.
He also gives pre-fight interviews to MMA outlets, where he talks through the plan for Pereira and how the team approaches each opponent. He also explains how he and Glover Teixeira split their roles in the corner.
Why follow
Cruz was in Alex Pereira's corner for his wins over Israel Adesanya, Jan Blachowicz and Jiri Prochazka. Following his account puts you close to Alex Pereira's preparation, with footage shot in the gym during camp that you will not see in regular media coverage.
His partnership with Glover Teixeira is worth watching too: a striking coach and a former UFC champion sharing the same corner. If you train stand-up, the sessions he posts give you concrete reference points on hand work and distance management for a former kickboxer who moved to MMA.
MMA Official's take
This account is for Alex Pereira fans and for strikers who want to see how a fighter at that level prepares. Start with the videos posted in the weeks before a Pereira fight, since that is when Plinio Cruz posts the most.
Add his pre-fight interviews to understand the plan, then rewatch the fight to see what the team actually executed. For a first comparison, take Pereira's win over Jiri Prochazka and the camp footage posted before it, then look for the same combinations and setups in the fight itself, round by round.