Alex Pereira has responded to Magomed Ankalaev’s constant digs towards him on social media.
Pereira lost the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship to Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 313 back in March. “Poatan” found himself moving backwards throughout the fight, and he ended up losing the gold via unanimous decision. The defeat snapped Pereira’s five-fight winning streak, which included three successful title defenses.
Since that time, Ankalaev has claimed that Pereira doesn’t want a rematch against him. He even went as far as to claim the former champion is retiring. Pereira’s fighting career isn’t over, and he’s taking aim at Ankalaev.
RELATED: ALEX PEREIRA SHUTS DOWN RETIREMENT TALK, VOWS TO RETURN TO UFC ACTION SOON
Alex Pereira Takes Shot at Magomed Ankalaev
Alex Pereira was in Newark to attend UFC 316 on Saturday. Backstage, he was interviewed by UFC Brazil. Pereira shared his belief that Magomed Ankalaev keeps mentioning his name because he’s an irrelevant champion (via MMAMania.com).
“He says my name because nobody knows he’s the champion, right?” Pereira said. “So when he says my name he appears a little bit. But I’m not responding to his provocations because I know it’s only to promote. When the time is right, I’ll go. I’ll talk.”
Pereira doesn’t believe he has to reinvent the wheel in order to get the better of Ankalaev. “Poatan” thinks all it will take is some fine-tuning on his part to emerge victorious.
“Some different things [will be done], but I’m telling you that these are details,” Pereira said. “It’s not something where I have to do some retraining and change so my game isn’t the same. Just correcting some of the techniques.”
A rematch between Pereira and Ankalaev hasn’t been made official at this time. Stick with BJPenn.com for the latest updates on what’s next for Pereira and Ankalaev.
