Al͏ex P͏e͏rei͏r͏a accused Magomed Ankalaev of not accepting a fight with him. The UFC light heavyweight champion had recently desired to move down to the middleweight division, and Anakalev had verbally attacked the champ. He insinuated that Pereira was trying to fight with athletes lower in weight than him to make it easier for him to win.
The champ is set to fight Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 this October However many UFC fans are not happy with this matchup. They think that ‘The War Horse’ getting the title shot is not fair because he was suspended for using banned substances. the second reason was Magomed Ankalaev.
The Dagestani is ranked #2 so clearly he was the deserving candidate for the matchup, however Al͏ex P͏e͏rei͏r͏a is back with his verdict. Let’s see what he said.
Al͏ex P͏e͏rei͏r͏a clears up why he is not fighting Magomed Ankalaev
‘Poatan’ addressed the ongoing rift on his YouTube channel saying,
“I always wanted to fight against Ankalaev. I feel that the organization lifted very clearly but Ankalaev didn’t want to fight against me. I don’t know the reason. If it was the location he just didn’t want to. He is not the champion he can’t pick anything. I think it’s the opportunity that shows that he didn’t want it. He has his reasoning I don’t know what it is. Came to tell you guys I’m not scared of anyone everyone knows my history.”
In his last fight, the 37-year-old defeated Jiri Prochazka and showed his prowess. After that Magomed Ankalaev made a video saying that he would win if he stepped against Pereira.
He wrote that end of the year Al͏ex P͏e͏rei͏r͏a would be lying on his back looking at his corner defeated. This is when the champion made a YouTube video to talk about his verdict “You guys saw, a lot of people trying to self-promote. Trying to belittle me, saying they will knock me out, finish me…”
However, he continued that he was training and evolving and he is becoming stronger. On the other hand, Anakalev Had thrown an illegal knee against Johnny Walker during their fight. Then the UFC decided to reschedule their fight and Ankalaev won.
So clearly according to the rankings, he should be the one fighting against Al͏ex P͏e͏rei͏r͏a. However ‘Poatan’ says Anakelv does not want to fight him. On the other hand, another UFC veteran says Pereira should not fight him. But why?
Daniel Cormier does to want Al͏ex P͏e͏rei͏r͏a to fight Ankalaev
Many people are of the belief that Dana White and co. want to ‘protect’ ‘Poatan’ And that is why he is not fighting against Anakalev. Even Daniel Cormier is of the same thought that UFC does not want to lose their starfighter. Pereira is the best fighter in the promotion right now and has always stepped up at the last moment whenever the boss needed him.
“I mean Ankalaev seems so obvious a choice, but not really the choice. Because I wouldn’t put him in there with Alex right now, like honestly. Alex Pereira is actually selling pay-per-views and he’s making money. He’s very popular for you [UFC] as a company. I don’t know if Ankalaev can do that right now,” Cormier said.
However, Cormier also feels that Al͏ex P͏e͏rei͏r͏a is not big enough of a star and feels that he is in a ‘goldilocks zone’ where he is so famous that UFC will protect him but not big enough to elevate other fighters to glory.
Now Magomed Ankalaev is set to face Aleksandar Rakic on UFC 308 and the 12-fight undefeated streak fighter will get a title shot if he wins. So what do you think of this arrangement?