Magomed Ankalaev says Alex Pereira spent part of this fall deciding whether he even wanted to stay at heavyweight, and that the hesitation is why the trilogy Ankalaev keeps asking for never got booked.
The former light heavyweight champion made the claim in an interview with BOSTANOV MMA, translated via YouTube. Pereira has since picked a lane, at least for now. He faces Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 335 on December 12, the final numbered card of the year, in what will be his second fight at heavyweight.
“[Paulo] Costa keeps finding excuses and Pereira was thinking about whether to stay at heavyweight or move down so he was pushed aside,” Ankalaev said.
That’s Ankalaev’s account, and Bloody Elbow’s report doesn’t carry a response from Pereira. Publicly, the Brazilian has looked fixed on the heavyweight title ever since his first run at the division ended in a loss at the White House in June. If Ankalaev is right, there was a stretch where going back down to 205 was on the table.
Ankalaev has been chasing Pereira for months. After he beat Bogdan Guskov in July, he said, his team went after the fight hard enough to offer to do it at heavyweight.
“We wanted Pereira and I wanted that rematch,” Ankalaev said. “I am doing a lot to get that fight, we even said that even if it’s in the heavyweight division, we can make it happen.”
Instead he’s been stuck “on the sidelines,” as he put it, with the UFC unable to find him an opponent. He also took a swipe at Costa, who he says keeps finding excuses.
The rivalry sits at one win apiece. Pereira evened it last October, stopping Ankalaev in 80 seconds. Ankalaev still isn’t buying that result, and per translated captions via Championship Rounds, he said Pereira’s camp may have known he was hurt.
“His business with me isn’t settled at all. You could call what happened a lucky punch. That’s how he beat me,” Ankalaev said, adding, “I don’t think any fighter had ever rushed at me like that before.”
My take: Ankalaev is doing the smart thing, which is camping out at the door. Pereira lost the first time he tried heavyweight, and Pavlovich is a brutal second test for a guy who was reportedly already second-guessing the move. Win in December and Ankalaev’s heavyweight offer is the only path to a trilogy. Lose, and the light heavyweight question comes right back with Ankalaev standing there holding a translated YouTube clip and an 80-second grudge. Either way, December 12 decides which division he has to call Pereira out in.
