UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira clarifies that he was never ducking Magomed Ankalaev.
Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) has been heavily campaigning to fight Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC), but was passed up for a title fight on several occasions.
He was convinced that “Poatan” is avoiding him, but Ankalaev will now get his wish when he challenges Pereira for the light heavyweight title in the UFC 313 main event March 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).
Pereira, who defended his title three times in the span of six months in 2024, says he asked to fight Ankalaev in March.
“I did say that I wanted to take a break, but I started training again. I started feeling good,” Pereira told ESPN through an interpreter. “I started seeing my evolution. So I called my managers right away and I said, ‘I want to fight. I want to fight in March. I want to fight Ankalaev.’ I know he keeps saying that I’m a just an employee of the UFC, I fight whenever they want, but I asked for him. I told them when I want to fight.”
Ankalaev has opened up as a slight favorite against Pereira, but the champion isn’t fazed by the challenge ahead of him.
“He’s as dangerous as any other fighter I’ve fought,” Pereira said. “Looking at him, the way that he fights, he’s an ordinary guy. Of course he has his weapons, he has his dangers, but I’ve been training hard. I’ve evolved a lot, and I’m ready for him.”
After suffering a knockout loss to Pereira at UFC 303, Jiri Prochazka (31-5-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) returned to the win column by knocking out former champion Jamahal Hill Saturday at UFC 311. Prochazka has lost to Pereira twice in title fights, but is eager for another shot at him.
Pereira is open to a trilogy bout.
“I’m ready to fight anybody. It doesn’t matter who it is,” Pereira said. “Right now, it’s Ankalaev’s time. I’m going to fight Ankalaev. But after this fight, (if) everything’s doing good, we’re going to give Jiri an opportunity. That’s what he said that he wants, and he’s going to have it.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.
