"Biggest chicken in the UFC" - Magomed Ankalaev reacts to Alex Pereira's Dricus du Plessis callout after missed title shot

Magomed Ankalaev has once again taken aim at Alex Pereira, following the Brazilian's callout of Dricus du Plessis. The South African recently defeated Pereira's rival Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.

Following 'Stillknocks' victory last Saturday, which saw him hand Adesanya the first submission loss of his career, Pereira took to Instagram to share a photograph of himself watching the pay-per-view.

In the caption, the light heavyweight champion appeared to call for a bout against du Plessis, stating that he was planning on moving back down to 185 pounds.

He captioned the post (Translated to English):

"Coming down to 185 one more time"

Pereira's post has since appeared to rub Ankalaev the wrong way, and not for the first time this week, the Russian contender has taken aim at 'Poatan'.

Many believed, including Ankalaev himself, that he would be the next challenger for Pereira's light heavyweight title. However, the UFC recently confirmed the Brazilian would be defending his belt against Khalil Rountree at UFC 307.

Magomed Ankalaev has instead been tasked with facing Aleksandar Rakic three weeks later at UFC 308, with the winner all but certain to face the champion next.

That was until Alex Pereira's post addressing a potential bout againt du Plessis, which has since lead to Ankalaev claiming he is avoiding facing him. The 32-year-old took to X and wrote:

"@AlexPereiraUFC biggest chicken in the UFC. He call out guys in middleweight he 40 pound more than them. I am the only guy he doesn't even mention my name. I promise I'm gonna handle my business in October and I'm gonna knock you out [In] under 2 rounds."

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Alex Pereira responds to Magomed Ankalaev's knockout promise

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira recently addressed Magomed Ankalaev's claims that he would knock him out.

Following Pereira's successful title defence against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303, Ankalaev threw his name in the ring as the Brazilian's potential next opponent. Whilst he hasn't yet secured a fight against 'Poatan', the Dagestan-born fighter believes if/when they do face-off, he'll win the fight using his striking, rather than his wrestling or grappling.

Pereira then posted a video on his social media addressing Ankalaev's claims and said:

"You guys saw, a lot of people trying to self-promote. Trying to belittle me, saying they will knock me out, finish me... but I'm training, evolving... I just started evolving now, that's the difference. [I was] able to go toe to toe with just kickboxing. Now I'm evolving, so each fight it's getting harder for them."

Check out Pereira's comments here, courtesy of Championship Rounds on X: