Alex Pereira Accused of ‘Blatantly Ducking’ Magomed Ankalaev as Manager Pushes for Old Opponent

Allan Binoy | 03/07/2024
“I Pray Five Times a Day, I Am Protected”: Magomed Ankalaev Accuses Alex Pereira of ‘Voodoo Stuff’ Over Toughness Comment

With Alex Pereira trouncing Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303, there have been a lot of of speculations surrounding his next opponent. While fans cannot wait to see the Brazilian in action again, contenders in the light heavyweight division are desperate to get a shot at the title. The hype and fanfare around ‘Poatan’ is the closest thing to prime Conor McGregor that we have seen in recent times.

Interestingly, amid the speculation, Magomed Ankalaev is the first name that popped up as a potential opponent for the Brazilian. However, Pereira’s manager hinted at a fight against Jan Blachowicz next and fans were definitely not impressed as they voiced their opinions on social media,

“Manager can sit this one out. No one is trying to see rematches over and over again. Ankalaev is next.”

One fan called the champ out for ducking Magomed Ankalaev if he does agree to fight Jan Blachochowicz next,

“This is blatant ducking lol”

One fan gave his reasoning as to why Magomed Ankalaev deserves the title shot against Alex Pereira over Jan Blachowicz,

“Jan coming off a loss and is recovering from shoulder surgeries on BOTH arms at 41 Give him Ankalaev”

This fan believes there is no one left for ‘Poatan’ to fight in the division except Ankalaev,

“He already beat Jan, Ankalaev is the clear next choice. There’s legit no one else”

Meanwhile, ahead of potential fight rumors, Ankalaev took shots at Pereira and even claimed that he would go easy on the latter.

Ankalaev fires shots at Pereira dismissing his title run

It seems like the light heavyweight division has no dearth of title contenders at the moment, as even Ankalaev is doing everything he can to secure a title shot against Pereira. The Russian took shots at the champ in a series of tweets recently, even going too far as to dismiss his title run, saying,

“If Izzy can KO you then I will cause 3x damage. I will do it with no wrestling with you…@AlexPereiraUFC I will make a deal. First 15 minutes no takedowns.”

Ankalaev believes he can go 15 minutes without attempting a takedown against Alex Pereira. No fighter has put ‘Poatan’s’ ground game to the test inside the octagon, although Ankalaev doesn’t seem interested in that. Instead, he wants to beat Pereira at his own game.

Post Edited By: Shraman Mitra
Alex Pereira Magomed Ankalaev

About the author

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Allan Binoy

Allan Binoy is a MMA journalist at The SportsRush. Taken to the sport in 2015, thanks to a certain Conor McGregor, Allan has himself dabbled in the martial arts. And having graduated from Loyola College, Chennai, with a degree in English Literature, he has learnt to use his love for language to have a voice in the MMA community. Allan has been writing about the gladiatorial stories for more than three years now and has pursued excellence at a number of reputable media organizations, covering every UFC PPV in the last couple of years. In addition to this, the southpaw is also a semi-professional soccer player for Diego Juniors FC in Pune, playing in the Pune Super Division League.

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