Background and early career Alcântara was born on the island of
Marajó, Pará in Brazil. Incidentally, Alcântara takes his fighting nickname from the island and is billed as Iuri "Marajó" Alcântara. and is managed by
Wallid Ismail, the owner of the
Jungle Fight promotion that Alcântara has competed in and won a championship. the first decision victory in his career. Alcântara entered into the lightweight grand prix at Jungle Fight 22. His opening round fight was against the highly touted, once undefeated
Francisco Trinaldo. Trinaldo had previously been named as one of the top prospects in the sport of MMA, having defeated experienced veterans such as
Luiz Firmino. Despite the reputation of his opponent, Alcântara was able to hand Trinaldo his first professional loss when he forced him to tap out to an armbar in the second round. The win advanced Alcântara into the final where he faced the Peruvian Manuelo Morales. Alcântara ran through Morales, defeating him via TKO from a front kick to the body, in just 16 seconds of the opening round. With the win, Alcântara became the first ever Jungle Fight Lightweight Champion.
World Extreme Cagefighting On 3 November 2010, it was announced that Alcântara had signed a five-fight deal with
Zuffa and that his debut would come at
World Extreme Cagefighting's final event,
WEC 53.
Ultimate Fighting Championship On 28 October 2010,
World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, most WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC. Alcântara was expected to make his featherweight debut against
Mackens Semerzier on 27 August 2011 at
UFC 134 However, Semerzier was injured and was replaced on the card by promotional newcomer
Antonio Carvalho. Carvalho was also forced from the bout with an injury, and was replaced by
Felipe Arantes. Alcântara won the fight via unanimous decision. Alcântara faced
Michihiro Omigawa on 14 January 2012 at
UFC 142. He won the fight via unanimous decision after rocking Omigawa on several occasions and almost submitting him with an armbar. Alcântara faced promotional newcomer
Hacran Dias on 23 June 2012 at
UFC 147. Dias defeated Alcântara via unanimous decision. Alcântara was expected to drop to bantamweight and face
George Roop on 19 January 2013 at
UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping. However, Roop was forced out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Pedro Nobre. After nearly finishing Nobre early in the first round with a submission attempt, the bout was declared a no contest as Alcântara was ruled to have landed an inadvertent, but illegal strike to the back of Nobre's head, rendering him unable to continue at 2:11 of round 1. After the fight,
UFC president
Dana White accused Nobre of faking the injury. Alcântara was expected to face
Marcos Vinicius on 18 May 2013 at
UFC on FX 8. However, Vinicius was forced out of the bout citing an injury. He instead faced promotional newcomer
Iliarde Santos and won the fight via first-round TKO. Alcântara faced
Urijah Faber on 17 August 2013 at
UFC Fight Night 26. Despite having Faber in trouble early in the first round, Alcântara was unable to stop Faber's wrestling and lost via unanimous decision. Alcântara faced
Wilson Reis on 15 February 2014 at
UFC Fight Night 36. He won the fight via split decision. Alcântara faced
Vaughan Lee on 31 May 2014 at
UFC Fight Night 41. He won the fight via KO early in the first round. Alcântara next faced
Russell Doane on 13 September 2014 at
UFC Fight Night 51. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Alcântara faced
Frankie Saenz on 22 February 2015 at
UFC Fight Night 61. Despite being the biggest betting favorite on the card, Alcântara lost the fight via unanimous decision. Alcântara faced
Leandro Issa on 1 August 2015 at
UFC 190. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Alcântara next faced
Jimmie Rivera on 30 January 2016 at
UFC on Fox 18. He lost the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision. Both participants were awarded a
Fight of the Night bonus. Alcântara faced
Brad Pickett on 8 October 2016 at
UFC 204. He won the fight via submission in the first round and was awarded a
Performance of the Night bonus. Alcântara faced
Luke Sanders on 4 March 2017 at
UFC 209. After losing the first round and absorbing a number of strikes, Alcântara rallied back and won the fight via a kneebar submission in the second round and earned himself another
Performance of the Night bonus. Alcântara was briefly linked to a rematch with
Felipe Arantes on 3 June 2017 at
UFC 212. However, on 11 May, Arantes was pulled from the fight for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by promotional newcomer
Brian Kelleher. Alcântara lost the fight via submission due to a guillotine choke in the first round. Alcântara faced
Alejandro Pérez on 9 December 2017 at
UFC Fight Night 123. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. The
California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) flagged Alcântara after the fight for gaining more than 10% of his weight from weigh-in to fight day. The CSAC later announced it would not license Alcântara to fight another bantamweight bout in California. Alcântara faced
Joe Soto on 3 February 2018 at
UFC Fight Night 125. He won the fight via technical knockout sixty-six seconds into the first round. This win earned him the
Performance of the Night bonus. Alcântara faced
Cory Sandhagen on 25 August 2018 at
UFC Fight Night 135. Despite locking in a very tight armbar early in the first round, he ultimately lost via technical knockout in the second round. This fight earned him the
Fight of Night award. On 2 October 2020 it was reported Alcântara was released by the UFC.
Post UFC In his first bout post UFC release, Alcântara made his return after 4 years off to face Daniel Bažant at FNC 7 on September 3, 2022. He lost the bout at the end of the first round via TKO stoppage due to ground and pound. ==Championships and accomplishments==