Pereira Wins Griffin Community Award as UFC Fight Week Raises Six Figures

International Fight Week in Las Vegas isn't only about who's swinging inside T-Mobile Arena. Around UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway 2 on July 11, the promotion's charity arm ran a statewide 50/50 raffle that grossed $117,280, with a single winner walking away with $58,640 and the rest funneling into Nevada charities through the UFC Foundation.

The headline recipient of the week's goodwill, though, was Alex Pereira. At the 2026 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on July 9, the former two-division champion became the sixth fighter to receive the Forrest Griffin Community Award, presented by NinjaTrader. It came with a $25,000 donation to Pereira's Poatan Cares Foundation, and more than 1,000 fans were in the building to see it.

The timing is worth noting. Pereira, 13-4 with 11 knockouts and currently ranked #3 at light heavyweight, is coming off a second-round TKO loss to Ciryl Gane. So the recognition lands during a rebuilding phase rather than a victory lap, which arguably makes the charity work stand out more, not less.

Boots on the Ground

Two days before the Hall of Fame show, on July 7, a trio of active fighters showed up in person at the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada. Middleweight contender Caio Borralho (18-2, ranked #5), featherweight Jean Silva (17-3 with 12 KOs, ranked #6), and Ode Osbourne helped cut the ribbon on the club's first-ever UFC Exercise Room and Nutritional Café.

The event drew more than 100 attendees, including kids from the club. Brand partner Total Wireless set up an activation table with notebooks, pens and water bottles, while Main Event Protein handed out bars and tote bags. Club development officer Yolanda Mationg said the partnership works because UFC keeps asking what more it can do, showing up with genuine care rather than just resources.

It's a good stretch for the fighters involved on paper, too. Borralho is riding a unanimous-decision win over Reinier de Ridder, and Silva beat Arnold Allen the same way before booking a headliner against Yair Rodriguez at Noche UFC. The permanent facilities they helped open, unlike a raffle jackpot, stick around long after Fight Week packs up and leaves town.