MMA fans have a long memory, and when things don’t go their way, they’re quick to dig up the past. That’s exactly what’s happening to former UFC champion Glover Teixeira after his longtime friend and student, Alex Pereira, lost his title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 over the weekend. Now, a comment Teixeira made back in 2021 has resurfaced—and some fans are questioning his loyalty.
At the time, there was no way Teixeira could have known how things would play out. Pereira had just made his UFC debut at 185 lbs and aimed to be in a feud with then-champion Israel Adesanya. Four years later, Pereira stepped into the octagon against Ankalaev and delivered the worst performance of his MMA career.
Now, Teixeira, known for his cordial nature, frequently engages in conversations and offers compliments to other fighters on the UFC roster. Back in 2021, Teixeira ran into Anakalev, presumably during a fight week, grabbed a phone on which he was using the translate feature, and proclaimed that Anakalev would be the champion next year.
The rising light heavyweight star was pleasantly surprised at Teixeira’s comment and thanked him before taking a picture. Unfortunately for grieving Pereira fans, this clip resurfaced at the wrong time.
Fans absolutely lost it and blamed Glover for jinxing Pereira. This Twitter user made a wild connection and said, “He sabotaged Alex just so he could have a “i told you so” moment.”
He sabotaged Alex just so he could have a “i told you so” moment
— Elonov (@ElonovMMA) March 14, 2025
“Glovers a fkn two faced snake”– commented another, still unable to grasp the concept of a coincidence.
This fan, however, was complimentary of Glover’s ability to scout talent, and added, “That’s some wild foreshadowing.”
Thankfully, there were sane fans as well in the comments section pointing out the obvious: “At that time Alex only has 1 fight in UFC at middleweight.”
Here’s the kicker, though. This conversation was in 2021. A year later, Ankalaev would face the then-champion Jan Blachowicz for the 205 lb title. He would even ask Joe Rogan during the post-fight interview about why the fight was considered a draw when he had dominated it.
His opponent, Blachowicz, would join him and tell Rogan that the UFC should just give him the title, and the UFC commentator would very publicly agree with the assessment.
Perhaps Pereira fans will also come around after a few days of contemplation. In the meantime, they can take comfort in the fact that the Brazilian star managed to stuff each of Ankalaev’s 11 takedowns.
Pereira ends a prevailing narrative at UFC 313
Pereira’s loss to Ankalaev essentially shut down his ambitions for a move to heavyweight to fight Jones for the elusive third belt.
However, UFC veteran Chael Sonnen still believes Pereira could pose problems for Jon Jones in the future, should the fight ever actualize. Despite losing his light heavyweight title by unanimous decision, Pereira showed a lot of heart, particularly in his wrestling defense.
“You don’t get very far when you start talking about Alex Pereira vs. Jon Jones,” Sonnen said. “We know Jon can throw him down and beat him up… but after watching this fight, it turns out that Alex Pereira isn’t so easy to take down. That whole narrative that he can’t wrestle is now gone,” a hopeful Sonnen added.
For Sonnen, this fight showed that Pereira has a lot more to offer than people thought, despite the reluctance to indulge in a striking match and force the issue from the Brazilian.
However, his Good Guy/Bad Guy co-host, Daniel Cormier, doesn’t quite share the same optimism. The former double champion feels that Pereira’s loss to Ankalaev proved that he might struggle with the strength and power of fighters at heavyweight, including someone like Jon Jones.
