While Magomed
Ankalaev staked his claim to a light heavyweight title shot
with a knockout victory on Saturday night, reigning champ Alex
Pereira appears to have other plans.
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In a post on his Instagram account, “Poatan” targeted Jamahal
Hill for his first title defense. Hill claimed the belt with a
victory against Pereira mentor Glover
Teixeira in January 2023 but had to vacate the title after
suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon in a pickup basketball
game this past summer. It is unclear when Hill might be cleared to
compete again.
“People, let’s focus on what matters, which is Jamahal,” Pereira
wrote in Portuguese, “and then I’ll focus on breaking another
record and doing two title defenses in the least amount of
time.”
Pereira appears to be alluding to the record for shortest time
between title defense, which is held by Ronda
Rousey. The Olympic judoka submitted Miesha Tate
at UFC 168 and returned 56 days later for a stoppage win over
Sara
McMann at UFC 170.
After a second-round KO of Johnny
Walker at
UFC Fight Night 234, Ankalaev wasted little time
calling for a showdown with Pereira. Ankalaev is unbeaten in
his last 13 Octagon appearances.
“I think here the math works out, the way that I’m more deserving
of the belt because I have 10 victories, six of them knockouts, and
Jamahal Hill has eight fights total in the UFC,” Ankalaev said at
the post-fight press conference. “So it’s just clear that I’m a
more deserving contender than Jamahal Hill.
“..“So if I get to fight against Pereira, I think we’re going to
have a great fight,” he added. “It’s going to be a firefight, it’s
going to be an exciting fight, and we’re going to do our job and
I’m going to get my title back because I’m already feeling like a
champion.”
After capturing UFC gold at middleweight, Pereira moved to 205
pounds at UFC 291, where he took a split verdict against Jan
Blachowicz this past July. He then defeated Jiri
Prochazka via second-round TKO at UFC 295 to claim the vacant
light heavyweight belt. The former two-division Glory kickboxing
champion doesn’t have a date set for his next title defense.