Pereira And Ankalaev Trade Words In Final Presser – ‘Chama Time Is Over’
Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev’s final press conference took place before their UFC 313 fight on Saturday.
Pereira faces one of the toughest fights of his career as he puts his UFC Light Heavyweight Title on the line. Pereira knocked out Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 in his last bout to round off a remarkable 2024. That increased the narrative for Pereira to move up to heavyweight and chase greatness. A belt at heavyweight makes Pereira a three-weight world champion. Dana White has said Pereira could face the winner of Jones vs. Tom Aspinall if that fight is made.
Ankalaev is one of the most in-form fighters in the sport. The light heavyweight is undefeated in his last 13 bouts. He has 11 wins, a draw, and one no-contest in those fights. He enters the fight with a UFC 308 win against Aleksandar Rakic. The two fighters had plenty to say ahead of their monster clash.
Pereira
“I still believe that there’s people to fight. Listen, think about Khalil. He was eighth in the ranking and look at the fight we delivered for you guys. So listen, there’s a lot of people out there that I can fight. And um it doesn’t matter their position and the ranking. They’re tough and I’ll fight them. The important thing is to fight and to put on a show for all you guys.
“First of all I’m very very prepared for this fight. I’ve been training a lot for this. And people have been saying um that hey he’s not a grappler so because of the fact Ankalaev is such a strong grappler. He’s just started training for grappling right now, well I’ve been training for grappling since the beginning.
“Listen, this means a lot to me, and uh, contrary to a lot of naysayers, a lot of so-called experts that said it wasn’t going to be done, look at the amount of work I put in, look at what they’ve been able to deliver, and I’ve been able to do it. This is, and I’m here as living proof of that. This goes as a message to every single person that just goes with trying to take your motivation away, naysayers, they’re trying to put you down—don’t believe them. Keep doing, believe in yourself, and we’re going to get it done,” Pereira
Ankalaev
“In this fight, everyone is against me. Everyone is saying, ‘Chama, Chama, Chama.’ But guess what? Chama time is over. After the fight, you will all love me. It motivates me, it charges me. Everyone’s against me. I’m here by myself, it’s going to be a really good fight. Honestly, (Pereira) should say thank you to Dana White for protecting him this whole time. I wasn’t upset about the last fight, I have nobody to blame but myself. We saw the fight, the whole world saw the fight, but it happened the way it happened. Now it’s a whole different ball game, it’s a different fight, it’s a different opponent.
“We’re planning to absolutely dominate him on Saturday we’re going to make sure that Chama has no chances on Saturday. Whether or not he stays in the sport or decides to go back to the tire shop, that’s going to be up to him, he’s going to have to make his decision. The same people that are saying ‘Chama’ now are going to be saying ‘no Chama’. It’s Ankalaev time
“For now we’re not concentrating on what’s going to happen afterwards. Right now, we’ve got a fight in front of us. Let’s go out there, let’s win and then afterwards we’ll think about who’s going to get the rematch or what,” Ankalaev said
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