Alex Pereira is busy living his best life and travelling around the world. Ankalaev is busy tweeting about Pereira.
Magomed Ankalaev is getting extremely active on X (formerly Twitter) trying to drum up interest in a light heavyweight title fight against Alex Pereira.
In a purely sporting context, Ankalaev already deserves the next 205 pound shot against Pereira. But according to “Poatan,” the UFC is hesitant to book Ankalaev into the spot because he’s ‘boring.’
How true is that? Well, the promotion definitely seemed to sour on the Russian fighter after a dreadful vacant light heavyweight title fight with Jan Blachowicz that ended in a draw. They passed him over in favor of No. 8 ranked Khalil Rountree for Pereira’s last title defense. And Ankalaev was told he needed a good entertaining fight with a finish at UFC 308 to earn a shot.
‘Entertaining’ is a subjective term, but he did not earn a finish against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308. So now he’s on X seeing if some spicy tweets will guarantee him next with Pereira.
I promise all my friends I’m going to punish this guy I will knock him out Inshallah
— Magomed Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) November 4, 2024
“I’m gonna beat Alex and I will give him immediate rematch as he deserve,” Ankalaev wrote. “I will stop him back to back chama … He lost 10 times when I beat him. This is gonna be something very normal for him. He’s a good loser, and I’ll make it easy. For him he know how to give up.”
Ankalaev also blamed Pereira for not accepting a short notice fight against him at UFC 310, which just lost its main event.
“Fake news I’m the only one who was ready for December but he deserve rest,” he wrote. “Willing to fight everyone short notice but with me, he knows he have to be ready he’s not stupid.”
“I spoke to my manager if the UFC need me for December 7, I am all in let’s go,” he continued. “I was offered three dates December, February, and March and I agreed to all three dates I have to win by KO I have no problem. It is condition.”
Even in his trash talk tweets, the UFC is demanding he finish his opponent. That’s amusing, even though his inability to finish is somewhat overblown. Six of his eleven wins come via KO or TKO, although he’s only earned two in the past four years.
Magomed Ankalaev posted a compilation of Alex Pereira’s losses and calls him a “good loser”
“[Alex] lost 10 times when I beat him. This is gonna be something very normal for him… he knows how to give up.”#UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/2RRJ5cT7Fm
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 4, 2024
“I promise all my friends I’m going to punish this guy I will knock him out Inshallah,” Ankalaev wrote under a video of Pereira visiting his ancestral tribe in Brazil. “Focus on MMA, voodoo is not going to help you my son … Who guys want see me fight next #voodookiller #runningAlex.”
That’s some pretty dumb and disrespectful stuff Ankalaev is throwing Pereira’s way. But for those of you that don’t like to see honorable fighters stoop to that level, keep in mind that this crazy barrage of tweets came at the same time Magomed’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has been camped on X sending an endless torrent of U.S. election tweets.
This wouldn’t be the first or the last time Ali takes over the reigns of fighter accounts to talk trash — and wouldn’t be the first or last time it helps his client secure the bag. What do you think, Maniacs? Does all this trash talk raise your interest in seeing Pereira and Ankalaev scrap next?