MMA fans have a long memory. When things don’t go their way, they quickly dig up the past, invariably putting stars in a spot of bother. Former UFC champion Glover Teixeira is at the receiving end of a blast from yesteryears now, after his longtime friend and student, Alex Pereira, lost to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313.
A comment made by Teixeira back in 2021 has resurfaced, prompting some fans to question his loyalty to Poatan. It was around the time Pereira had just made his UFC debut at 185 lbs. Teixeira ran into Ankalaev, presumably during a fight week. After they exchanged pleasantries, he grabbed a phone Ankalaev was using to translate speech and proclaimed that the Russian 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. Of course, there was no way Teixeira could have known how things would play out almost four years down the road. Pereira was a newbie back then and was focused fully on the middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Fate, however, intertwined their career trajectories, and Pereira had an underwhelming performance, losing his belt to the Russian.
Teixeira, known for his cordial nature, often engages in conversations and offers compliments to other fighters on the UFC roster. For grieving Pereira fans, this clip resurfaced at the wrong time, and they absolutely lost it, blaming Teixeira for jinxing the Brazilian.
One X 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, finding it unable to accept that the incident was just a coincidence.
One fan, however, praised Glover’s ability to identify potential and talent, saying, “That’s some wild foreshadowing.” Thankfully, there were sane voices as well in the comments section, who pointed out the obvious. “At that time Alex only has 1 fight in UFC at middleweight,” wrote a fan.
Here’s the kicker, though. A year after the interaction, Ankalaev faced the light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz for the title.
The fight ended in a draw and Ankalaev was so perplexed with the rest that he even asked Joe Rogan during the post-fight interview why he was not declared the winner despite dominating it. His opponent, Blachowicz, joined him and told Rogan that the UFC should hand him the title. The UFC commentator also agreed with the assessment.
Perhaps, Pereira fans will also come around after a few days, when the pain of the loss would have subsided, and they would have had time to reflect. In the meantime, they can take comfort in the fact that the Brazilian star, though, ended up losing, managed to stuff each of Ankalaev’s 11 takedowns.
Pereira ends a prevailing narrative at UFC 313
Pereira’s loss to Ankalaev essentially ended his ambition to move to heavyweight and fight Jones for a third belt. However, UFC veteran Chael Sonnen still believes Pereira could pose problems for Jon Jones in the future, should the fight actualize.
Despite losing his light heavyweight title by unanimous decision, Pereira showed a lot of heart, particularly in his wrestling defense. And that excites Sonnen.
“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.”
For Sonnen, this fight showed that Pereira has a lot more to offer than people thought. That said, Pereira did show reluctance to indulge in a striking match against Ankalaev and force the issue.
Sonnen’s Good Guy/Bad Guy co-host, Daniel Cormier, doesn’t share the same optimism. The former double champion feels that Pereira’s loss to Ankalaev proved that he might struggle against the strength and power of fighters at heavyweight, especially someone who is as skillful and well-rounded as Jones.
