While waiting for his title shot against Alex Pereira, UFC light heavyweight title contender Magomed Ankalaev has shared his plans for 2025. The Russian fighter made some bold predictions, claiming that he would beat Alex Pereira twice before fighting some other ‘bums’ in the division.
I’m going to beat @AlexPereiraUFC in March and I will give him a rematch in July and then I will beat one of these bums like Jamahal Hill and Jiri in Abu Dhabi in October.@Mickmaynard2 @danawhite
— Magomed Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) November 22, 2024
Ankalaev has long awaited his time under the son but has been somehow kept away from it. But after his last win against Alexandar Rakic at UFC 308, it’s certain that he is coming for Poatan’s title. Although the Brazilian, having defended the light heavyweight belt thrice this year, should feel confident of his chances, the fact remains- he’s never faced anyone with the Russian’s ground game.
So, there’s a very good chance that Ankalaev might be the new light heavyweight champion in 2025.
Unfortunately, the rest of Twitter doesn’t feel this way.
Fans were quick to remind him of what they perceived would happen and said, “Corrected the calendar – Lose to Alex Pereira in March – Win against Hill in July – Defend his Twitter account from Ali in October.” This fan called out the UFC fighter to his face by claiming Ankalaev was out of his depth and claimed, “Haha this guy is full of s***”
One fan trolled Ankalaev saying he was dreaming about these scenarios and said, “Then his alarm goes off and he wakes up.”
But the Russian fighter remains confident of his own abilities and believes he would beat ‘Poatan’ easily.
Ankalaev vows to make Pereira look ‘average’
Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev should have happened a long time ago. As mentioned above, Poatan has fought thrice in 2024, and one of those fights should have featured the Russian, and yet…
Pereira has been squarely putting the blame on the UFC claiming he doesn’t make the fights. But then he has also claimed Ankalaev being boring as a reason for the UFC not being interested in him as a title contender.
Some time ago, Pereira had even asserted that since Ankalaev had been disrespectful to him, he was going to make him wait longer.
The Russian, on the other hand, keeps calling out the champ on Twitter and predicting how the fight between them will end up- a decisive victory for him,
“One thing I can tell you is I never turned down a fight or choose opponents, I believe I’m the best in the world. Media need to ask the UFC about this @Mickmaynard2 I will punish Alex Perreira in my next fight and I will make him look average”
Regardless of how things have transpired in the past, the path is clear as day now. Neither fighter has any opponents lined up next, so the next time they are in the octagon, it will be against each other for the light heavyweight title. Ankalaev will be back after the holy month of Ramzan, while Pereira will have returned from a well-deserved break. And then there will be no excuses.
