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Alex Pereira lost a unanimous decision to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313. | Getty/UFC
Alex Pereira was allegedly compromised going into his first fight with Magomed Ankalaev.
Pereira put his light heavyweight title on the line against Ankalaev at UFC 313 this past March. “Poatan” suffered a unanimous decision loss against Ankalaev, where he didn’t seem his usual predatory self.
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While Pereira didn’t want to make any excuses, his team repeatedly hinted that he was compromised going into the fight. Ankalaev put his title on the line in their rematch at UFC 320 earlier this month. Pereira dominantly walked Ankalaev down, dropped him and finished him with ground-and-pound in the first round.
Mauricio Ruffy, who occasionally trains with Pereira, recently made a big revelation about the light heavyweight champ. Ruffy claims Pereira fought Ankalaev with a cracked shin in their first encounter. Ruffy says Pereira was barely able to walk ahead of UFC 313.
’He Could Barely Walk’
“Now that everything’s over, I can say it,” Ruffy told Laerte Viana (via Home of Fight). ”He was fighting with a cracked shin in the first fight. His shin was so injured, he could barely walk. He lost but he still went out there and fought. Then he came out in the rematch and showed his level.”
Pereira won and defended his title thrice within a year before losing to Ankalaev. The Brazilian is calling for a superfight against Jon Jones at the White House in June 2026.
Meanwhile, Ruffy’s hype train ended with an upset submission loss against Benoit St. Denis at UFC Paris last month. The Fighting Nerds talent was unbeaten since 2022 with three UFC wins, including two finishes.
😳👏Mauricio Ruffy says Alex Pereira was dealing with a fractured shin during his first fight with Ankalaev
“Now that everything’s over, I can say it. He was fighting with a cracked shin in the first fight. His shin was so injured, he could barely walk.
He lost but he still… pic.twitter.com/n4vkGWoVPz
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 20, 2025
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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