Anthony Smith is still picking a bone with Alex Pereira. The light heavyweight believes Poatan wouldn’t have dared to accept a short-notice fight against him or Magomed Ankalaev as he did to save the UFC 303.
‘Lionheart’ appeared on the latest episode of Michael Bisping’s YouTube podcast, claiming if Pereira wasn’t fighting Jiri Prochazka, an opponent he had beaten before, he wouldn’t have stepped in to be superman for the day.
After Conor McGregor’s withdrawal, a rematch between ‘Poatan’ and his UFC 295 rival will now feature as the main event of UFC 303.
Fans may remember that the former kickboxer had made quick work of the Czech native during their first fight, finishing him via a TKO in the second stanza.
Smith mentioned that Pereira wouldn’t require a long fight camp to prepare for Prochazka, especially since he had already locked horns with ‘BJP’ less than a year ago.
The 35-year-old also mentioned that Pereira would have turned down the offer if it was Magomed Anklalaev or himself he were to go against.
“He [Pereira] wouldn’t have probably taken this fight against Magomed [Ankalaev]… or probably not against me. That’s because there’s a different skill set. He [Pereira] has already trained for Jiri one time before, so he’s familiar with him [and his game].”
Fans might have different opinions about Smith’s rationale behind his statement. But ‘Poatan’s’ statement a few months back clarified why he didn’t want to fight Ankalaev.
Poatan doesn’t want ‘boring’ Ankalaev fight
Ankalaev’s #2 rank in the current list of top UFC light heavyweight contenders signifies that he is worthy of a title shot. But ‘Poatan’ doesn’t view him as a deserving contender due to his “boring style”.
Alex Pereira rules out a fight against Magomed Ankalaev as his next title defense:
“As we have already talked more or less with the organization, [Magomed] Ankalaev is kind of ruled out and also what he said to me doesn’t make sense.
He’s a guy who had two very bad fights, very… pic.twitter.com/ztkRMPmEXg
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 3, 2024
Ankalaev, much like his other Russian compatriots, is a wrestler first, a Greco Roman wrestler at that. So while it might seem like a boring fight to Poatan, the truth could be very different. Pereira has yet to fight a proper Russian wrestler and Ankaleav could prove to be the first big challenge to his title.
So Anthony Smith’s words have a high degree of authenticity. Pereira wasn’t willing to fight Ankalaev even with enough time on his hands.
Hence, it’s quite unimaginable that he would oblige the UFC’s offer to fight the Russian on short notice. That said, the Brazilian probably won’t be able to ignore Anakalev’s demands if the 32-year-old keeps winning like he did in his last fight against Johnny Walker.
