American mixed martial artist Tracy Cortez has gone viral after she hard-launched her romance with Alex Pereira. She shared two Instagram Stories with the Brazilian MMA star where they were seen getting cosy while celebrating the New Year.One photo showed Pereira, 38, hugging Cortez from behind, as she held sparklers in both her hands. A follow-up image showed the two kissing, with the words “La Vida Es Bella” (Life Is Beautiful) and “Entrando 2026” (Entering 2026) written against the festive background.Alex Pereira’s last relationship ended badly in December 2023 after he discovered that his fiancé and MMA content artist Merle Christine was married. As for Tracy Cortez, 32, she was engaged to fellow UFC champion Brian Ortega in the past. That too ended in a break-up. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostAll about Alex Pereira’s last relationshipMerle Christine is an MMA influencer, television presenter, certified systemic coach, and podcast host. On her Coffee & Champions podcast, she talks about:“factors that influence success, the mindset and routines of movers and shakers and dive together into the world and life alongside world champions.”It cites Mike Tyson, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Conor McGregor as inspirations.Her other podcast is called Fightology.In early 2022, she met Alex Pereira and began dating him soon after. A year later, he went down on one knee to propose while she said yes. However, at the end of 2023, Pereira “dumped” her when he found out she was somebody else’s wife. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostAddressing the rumors, Merle Christine wrote on social media at the time:“It seems like all these comments and rumors are not stopping, so I think it’s important to make a little statement. Sometimes in life, a relationship doesn’t work, and people decide to take two different ways. And I think it’s something everybody has to respect, and it doesn’t mean that there is bad blood between these two people… I wish Alex all the best and a lot of success in his career.”During his January 2024 appearance on the Full Send MMA podcast, Alex broke his silence about the split.“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 their life,” the UFC star noted.Alex Pereira added:“It was a person I believed, I put her in my house, together with my family. After all I found out, she was married.”Merle Christine denied the allegation in the comment section of the podcast’s episode shared on Instagram. She wrote:“Lol hurt man inventing whatever. How can I be married and moving to the States lol.”Christine also claimed she had separated from her husband long before she began dating Pereira.The São Paulo-born Alex responded further with an Instagram Story. He shared screenshots of his alleged texts with Christine’s ex-husband and wrote in the caption:“Well, guys, Merle thinks she’ll be able to manipulate you. I’ve been talking to her ex-husband for a few days, and today I know what she’s capable of.”Alex Pereira continued:“This is a love conversation with two different people on the same day and at the same time. She attacked me, thinking I was going to fight back. But I’m not crazy about doing that! I have video of her attacking me. Since she didn’t get what she wanted, she’s trying to use my name.”Around the same time, he also deleted his social media posts featuring Merle, who, in turn, made her profiles private.It is noteworthy that Alex Pereira has previously been married and has two sons, Alessandro Vidal Silva and Lohan Vidal Silva.