Luke Rockhold Changes Tune On UFC Champ Alex Pereira, Calls Him A GOAT, Gangster

Luke Rockhold has been one of the biggest Alex Pereira critics, but the former middleweight champ is ready to give Poatan his flowers ... declaring the Light Heavyweight strap holder one of the all-time greats!

TMZ Sports ran into the UFC legend leaving On The Rox at The Roxy in West Hollywood this week -- not long after 38-year-old Pereira decimated then-champ Magomed Ankalaev in the main event at UFC 320 -- when we asked Rockhold about the performance.

"I used to hate on Alex Pereira but motherf***er's a gangster. It's all about confidence. It's all about balls. He has it. He f***ing has it. I'm not gonna lie. I can't hate on the motherf***er anymore. He's one of the GOATs," Luke said.

Rockhold, who was UFC champ in 2015, continued ... "[Pereira] carries the same mindset every f***ing time. He doesn't have a ground game, but the motherf***er's got balls. No more hate. Alex, god bless, you're a gangster. He's one of the best champs of all time. Honestly, it's impressive."

Of course, Alex burst onto the scene in late 2021 and was almost immediately fighting top opponents in the biggest events. His third UFC fight was against Sean Strickland, before fighting then-rival Israel Adesanya for the MW belt in his next bout (he KO'd Izzy).

Despite AP's success, some believed the right opp could make easy work of Alex ... and Luke agreed, saying there were likely 20 guys in the promotion who could "maul" him.

But, that was years ago, and Pereira -- 9-2 in the UFC -- has now clearly proven himself one of the greatest fighters ever.