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Magomed Ankalaev returned to the octagon last month as he defeated Alex Pereira via unanimous decision at UFC 313 to capture the light heavyweight title. He has since said that he is open to a rematch against 'Poatan', noting that he plans to finish his opponent if they clash again.
The No.6-ranked pound-for-pound fighter has expressed interest in facing Pereira in August. As per Championship Rounds' recent post on X, Ankalaev has said he doesn't believe the former middleweight and light heavyweight champion will accept the bout:
"I have a feeling you don't want to rematch after I agreed to August"
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Ankalaev has shared that he is willing to face any opponent in August if Pereira does not accept the bout. He recently expressed that he only trained for the UFC 313 clash for four weeks, adding that the UFC knew it was 'Poatan's' best chance to beat him.
While he was unable to land any of his 12 takedown attempts, the threat of wrestling played a factor in the outcome of the bout. Ankalaev outlanded his opponent, who often appeared worried about being taken down.
Alex Pereira responds to greasing claims from Magomed Ankalaev's camp
In the aftermath of Magomed Ankalaev's UFC 313 victory over Alex Pereira, one of his coaches accused his opponent of greasing to make it harder to take him down. Pereira responded to those allegations by claiming that Ankalaev's coach was looking for an excuse for why his fighter failed all 12 takedown attempts.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, 'Poatan' stated, via his translator and coach Plinio Cruz:
"I absolutely didn't put nothing on my body. The way that his coach is putting on, this sounds to me like he's trying to make an excuse - looking for an excuse - to justify the fact that he trained a guy to take me down, but the guy got stuffed [on] 12 of his takedown attempts."
Check out Alex Pereira's comments below:
Pereira also questioned if his opponent's coach believes they put oil on the mats as well.
