Magomed
Ankalaev seems to think that Alex
Pereira isn’t interesed in a rematch with the
UFC light heavyweight title on the line.
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Ankalaev captured the title with a unanimous decision triumph over
“Poatan” at UFC 313
this past March at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While an
immediate rematch was expected, the Dagestani champion has grown
tired of waiting n Pereira to accept the fight.
In fact, Ankalaev indicated in a recent social media post that
Pereira might be done for good.
“Alex done, he never coming back. Let’s move on,” Ankalaev wrote on
X. “June, July, August I said yes.”
Alex done he never coming back let’s move on
June July August I said yes— Muhammad big ANK Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM)
June 1, 2025
It’s not the first time Anklaev has
accused Pereira of turning down a fight . Earlier this year,
the Gorets Fight Club standout revealed that both the Brazilian and
Jiri
Prochazka turned down a potential title shot at International
Fight Week. Pereira has been largely quiet on the matter, but there
was a cryptic post on his social media account that mentioned a
dispute with the UFC and “thoughts of not fighting anymore.”
However, “Poatan” later claimed that his account had been
hacked.
Since transitioning to MMA from kickboxing, Pereira has emerged as
one of the Las Vegas-based promotion’s biggest stars while winning
titles at both 205 and 185 pounds. He’s also been an active star,
defending the light heavyweight belt three times in a six-month
span last year before relinquishing the strap to Ankalaev. That
hectic itinerary could mean the ex-Glory title holder might simply
be looking for an extended break.
Ankalaev is unbeaten in his last 14 Octagon appearances and in
addition to besting Pereira, owns other notable victories against
the likes of Aleksandar
Rakic, Johnny
Walker, Anthony
Smith, Volkan
Oezdemir and Nikita
Krylov.