The heartthrob of the UFC’s social media, Nina Marie Daniele, has often appeared in visuals where she’s either training with or messing around with Alex Pereira. And the netizens began putting two and two together and speculated that Pereira and Daniele were probably dating each other. You do remember how people believed that Daniele and Sean Strickland were dating, right? It was like a flaming hot Cheeto until the rumors were proven false and Strickland and the UFC social media representative revealed that they were nothing more than just good friends.
But where do Daniele and ‘Poatan’ actually stand in the relationship? Are the two really dating or is it just another fairytale generated by the fight fans? Let’s find out!
Are Alex Pereira and Nina Drama in a relationship?
Pereira is a father of two children and he proudly shares heartfelt moments with them on social media. And the identity of their mother still remains a secret. But that doesn’t mean the man with the hands of stone is free from heartbreak. He was previously dating Merle Christine, but things ended badly when he accused her of being secretly married. He revealed, “Well, it’s a little hard to talk about this, because for me, I already deleted this person from my life. I would also like to ask my fans to also delete her from your life. It was a person I believed (in). I put her in my house together with my family. After all, I found out that she was married.”
The breakup happened in 2023, which brought an end to a 2-year-long relationship. But that wasn’t all! Pereira and Christine removed the moments that they shared together from social media and even sent cryptic messages for each other. After that, ‘Poatan’ has apparently remained single with no intention of getting together with anyone. However, unconfirmed rumors of him dating Aline Antoniassi and Polyana Viana have indeed engulfed the fighting realm. But we can safely assume that these are simply rumors.
On the other hand, Daniele is dating her long-time boyfriend, Jhanelle Castillo. Castillo was indeed the one who pushed Daniele towards a career in glamour, and she tried out for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition 2017. And as far as them getting married is concerned, Daniele had but one condition. Castillo revealed, “Before u ask me when we’re getting engaged …. please note that @ninamariedaniele said I have to finish paying off all my college loans before I can even think about the subject!”
So where do Nina Marie Daniele and Alex Pereira stand? Well, just like the rumors with Strickland, Pereira and Daniele’s dating story is also fake. They are nothing more than good friends who work for the UFC. The duo do train together, and spend a lot of time together. And Daniele even tapped Pereira out in one instance. Let’s find out more about it!
Nina Drama taps out Alex Pereira, mocks with Israel Adesanya’s celebration
On February 28, 2025, Nina Marie Daniele shared a tweet showing an instance from her training with Pereira. In the caption, she wrote, “Alex Pereira taught me the Poatan Necktie submission!” It was indeed a playful video where ‘Poatan’ went in for a double leg takedown, but instead got trapped in a necktie choke. This choke targets the carotid arteries, like many other jiu-jitsu holds. And that forced the light heavyweight champion to tap out.
But the UFC’s social media representative wasn’t done. She playfully pushed the Brazilian champion back and acted as if she was going for some ground and pound. Finally, she mocked Pereira for his only defeat in the UFC. It was indeed reminiscent of the time when Israel Adesanya knocked ‘Poatan’ out at UFC 287, and celebrated with the iconic bow and arrow act.
Nevertheless, when it came to supporting her friends, Daniele rushed forward. And we can expect her to cheer for the Brazilian as he gets ready to defend his light heavyweight belt against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313. Will Pereira be able to defeat Ankalaev? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Are Alex Pereira and Nina Marie Daniele Dating? UFC Champ’s Relationship Rumors Debunked appeared first on EssentiallySports.
