Magomed Ankalaev Lashes Out at Alex Pereira Following His Middleweight Desires: 'Biggest Chicken…'
Magomed Ankalaev criticizes Alex Pereira's desire to fight in the middleweight division, sparking debate and adding tension to the MMA landscape.
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Magomed Ankalaev has yet again lashed out at Alex Pereira. The UFC light heavyweight champion commented recently that he wanted to move down to the middleweight division. The statement from Poatan came right after Dricus du Plessis’ dominant submission victory over Israel Adesanya. Although nothing has been confirmed about the move at the moment, Magomed Ankalaev did not want to miss out on this opportunity to verbally attack the Brazilian.
Calling him out for trying to fight athletes who are lower in weight than him, Ankalaev said, “@AlexPereiraUFC biggest chicken in the Ufc he call out guys middleweight he 40 pound more than them I am the only guy he doesn't even mention my name I promise I'm gonna handle my business in October and I'm gonna knock you out under 2 round.”
Well, Pereira is no stranger to the middleweight division. In fact, he had already been a champion in the division before moving up to light heavyweight. Interestingly, soon after Poatan’s call out, Dricus du Plessis spoke with Submission Radio and asked the UFC to finalize the fight in December. However, despite the rumors and speculations around Pereira’s potential move down the weight, the reality looks quite contrasting.
Alex Pereira will be facing off against Khalil Rountree Jr. in the main event of UFC 307. Contrary to popular belief, Magomed Ankalaev did not get a title shot and will have to fight Aleksander Rakic instead. While such a controversial booking has offended the likes of Jan Blachowicz and Jamahal Hill, Ankalaev is looking to get to Pereira as fast as he can.
Ever since Alex Pereira has won back-to-back fights within 120 days, the Russian fighter has been throwing shades at the champion. Ankalaev stated that if he were to fight Pereira, the match would be wrapped in just 15 minutes. In what was quite an audacious claim, the Russian athlete promised not to use his stronghold, grappling while fighting Poatan. Instead, he wanted to knock out Pereira by displaying his fierce striking.
Veterans like Daniel Cormier too, agreed with Ankalaev and pointed out that the Russian could be the biggest threat that Pereira has faced till now. And while that match looks uncertain as of now, Pereira would want to amaze his fans further by successfully defending his title for the third time in a year. But Khalil Rountree Jr. too, is not an athlete that can be underestimated. Thus, with the situation getting intense, the onus is now on the two main eventers to gift the audience a banger of a fight.
ALSO READ: Magomed Ankalaev Issues Strong Warning to Poatan, Says ‘Alex Pereira Won’t Be Able to Touch Him’
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