Surging light heavyweight contender, Magomed Ankalaev remains an impressive betting favorite to end the dominant reign of Alex Pereira at 205lbs – with the Russian confirming plans to lure the Brazilian to an overdue showdown as soon as May next.
Ankalaev, who most recently featured at UFC 308 last month, turning in a forgettable unanimous decision shutout win over fellow European contender, Aleksandar Rakic in the pair’s officially billed title eliminator.
As for former two-division champion, Pereira, the Sao Paulo knockout artist most recently headlined UFC 307 again last month, defending his light heavyweight crown for the third time this year alone – in the form of a knockout win over Khalil Rountree.
Magomed Ankalaev remains betting favorite to beat Alex Pereira next year
And linked with a potential title defense against former vacant gold chaser, Magomed Ankalaev next, Brazilian fan-favorite finisher, Pereira is a current +120 betting underdog to successfully defend his crown against the -140 betting favorite Russian. And while Pereira has proved dominant during his light heavyweight reign – will you punters and fans alike fall into the infamous gambler’s fallacy and pick the Brazilian based on his past performances as champion?
Setting his stall out as the potential Fighter of the Year for this annum – former middleweight kingpin, Pereira made relative light work of all three of his opponents at the light heavyweight limit, in championship settings to boot.
Firstly headlining the monumental UFC 300 card earlier in April, Pereira made short work of former champion, Jamahal Hill – finishing him with a blistering first round knockout in the pair’s main event grudge fight.
And just months later on short notice, Pereira took main event status during International Fight Week at UFC 303, stopping Czech Republic foe, Jiri Prochazka with a devastating second round knockout win.
Adding the above-mentioned, Rountree to his intense winning resume in 2024, Pereira has been called upon time and time again to welcome the challenge of former title chaser, Ankalaev – who explained earlier this week how he plans to feature against the Sao Paulo native as soon as May.
“(Alex) Pereira has not yet agreed to the fight,” Magomed Ankalaev explained. “But sooner or later it will happen, I think the fight can take place in May.”
However, despite his constant chase of a title fight with his bitter rival, Pereira, Russian standout, Ankalaev is far too “boring” to compete for the light heavyweight crown according to the fan-favorite Brazilian.
“Man, I don’t have nobody on my mind,” Alex Pereira said. “The organization came with Khalil last time and it was a surprise for me too. I don’t really choose opponents. Some people say Ankalaev, but I’m gonna be honest with you, him and his manager been talking a lot of crap saying, ‘Oh, Alex don’t wanna fight,’ this and that, but the reality is the organization don’t want him to fight because he’s boring. People don’t like to watch him fight, right? He’s not a guy that sells pay-per-views.”
Similarly linked with a potential heavyweight move in pursuit of a historic championship charge against Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall, Pereira has confirmed plans – for the time being at least, to remain at his light heavyweight stomping grounds.