New footage has emerged, showing Alex Pereira branding his UFC rival Magomed Ankalaev a “coward” ahead of their title rematch.
On Saturday 3 October, the light-heavyweights will clash in the main event of UFC 320, where Pereira attempts to regain the belt that he lost to Ankalaev in March.
Ankalaev won a decision against Pereira to end the Brazilian’s fan-friendly title run; Pereira gained the vacant belt with a stoppage of Jiri Prochazka in 2023, before knocking him out again in 2024 between stoppages of Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr.
“Poatan”’s reign at 205lb followed a brief middleweight title run, but his future seems to lie at light-heavyweight, where he attempts to gain revenge against Ankalaev, 33, in Las Vegas.
Ahead of that rematch, 38-year-old Pereira came across the Russian at the UFC Performance Institute in Vegas. And now, Ankalaev has shared footage of the run-in on his Instagram story.
“No need for empty talk,” Ankalaev told Pereira via a translator. “We’ll settle this on [3] October.
“Let’s do it in the ring. Why waste words?”
Pereira, also speaking via a translator, retorted: “I never said anything; he talked.
“Now he comes out of nowhere and we’re face to face, you’re a coward.”
Pereira, a former kickboxing champion, had been near-perfect in the UFC between his 2021 debut and his meeting with Ankalaev.
He won the middleweight belt in just his fourth UFC fight, stopping former kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya to do so. Although the Brazilian was knocked out by Adesanya in their 2023 rematch, he bounced back with five straight wins – including four against three former champions.
Meanwhile, Ankalaev won nine straight fights between 2018 and 2022, before stalling with a draw against Jan Blachowicz – with the vacant title on the line – and a No Contest against Johnny Walker. However, the Russian knocked out Walker in their rematch and outpointed Aleksandar Rakic to set up his title fight with Pereira this March.
