Outside Source
Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev are 1-1 so far in the Octagon. | Getty/UFC
Islam Makhachev wants to see a rubber match between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira.
After traversing a long route to the title, Ankalaev (20-2) challenged Pereira (13-3) for the first time at UFC 313 this past March. After three successful defenses at light heavyweight, Pereira lost his title to Ankalaev via unanimous decision. While Ankalaev wanted to defend his title against Pereira in a rematch in June, “Poatan” wasn’t ready. The two finally met in a rematch at UFC 320 last month, with Ankalaev a heavy favorite going into the fight. However, Pereira walked Ankalaev down and finished him in 80 seconds to reclaim his title.
Ankalaev’s team and manager later hinted that he was injured and had been advised not to fight. Photos have since emerged of Ankalaev being treated for a rib injury just weeks ahead of the fight. Makhachev was admittedly surprised by the outcome of Ankalaev’s rematch with Pereira. However, Makhachev claimed to have heard that the fellow Dagestani hadn’t trained for three months before the fight due to the injury. Makhachev still believes Ankalaev is more skilled than Pereira, and that they deserve to end the rivalry with a trilogy fight.
They Deserve to Fight One More Time
“Of course, I was surprised… After the fight everybody told me Ankalaev was not training for last three months. He have rib inured. When you don’t have sparring three times a week, it’s hard to go to the cage and fight. That’s why it happened,” Ankalaev told Adin Ross on his Kick stream. “I think they deserve to fight one more time… Alex is good, but I believe Ankalaev has more skills.”
Pereira is currently rallying for a heavyweight super fight against Jon Jones at the White House in June 2026. Meanwhile, Makhachev is scheduled to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title in the main event at UFC 322 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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