Pereira Slams Ankalaev’s Fighting Style – ‘Boring Style’

Alex Pereira has hit out at Magomed Ankalaev’s style of fighting.
The pair have been linked with a fight at light heavyweight, with both sides blaming each other for the fight not going ahead. Pereira is coming off a win against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303. He stopped him in the second round to retain his UFC Light Heavyweight Title. It was the second time he stopped Ankalaev following his win against him at UFC 295.
Pereira will now face Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 on October 5. Ankalaev is undefeated in his last 12 fights. He has ten wins, a draw and one no-contest. His only loss came against Paul Craig in 2017 his first UFC fight. He defeated Johnny Walker in his last fight and is scheduled to fight Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 on October 26. But that has created the narrative that Pereira is ducking the Russian, the leading contender in the division.
Pereira Reacts
“I don’t know the reason, if it was the location, if he didn’t want to fight. He isn’t the champion, he can’t pick anything. It’s the opportunity that shows up and he didn’t want it. He has his reasoning, I don’t know what it is. But I came here to tell you I’m not scared of anyone. Everyone knows my history and everything I’ve done, not only in MMA, but in kickboxing as well. It’s obvious that I want to fight this guy,” Pereira stated
Pereira has spoken about his desire to move up to heavyweight. The Brazilian made those comments after beating Jiri, stating that he would only do so if it was for a title. He was open to facing Jon Jones, the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Bones will defend his belt against Stipe Miocic on November 16. Miocic will retire after the fight, while Jones could do the same. That leaves Tom Aspinall as the leading contender in the division, who has welcomed the idea of Pereira moving up.
What’s Next?
Pereira also indicated his desire to move back down to middleweight. This was following Dricus Du Plessis beating Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. The South African submitted Adesanya in the fourth round to retain his UFC Middleweight Belt. Pereira indicated his desire to come down to middleweight since he lost that title after Adesanya knocked him out at UFC 287.
Du Plessis responded that he would want the fight at 205 pounds, leaving fans wondering whether that would take place. It appears to show Pereira’s reluctance to take the fight with Ankalaev. However, the Brazilian has criticized his fighting style, especially since Alex is known for being a knockout artist.
“Honestly, it’s not my fault that Ankalaev have such a boring style of fighting that nobody wants to watch, that the guys don’t want to put him in. I’m ready to fight the guy. He’s ready to fight me, so whenever they put that fight. People talk about my ground, so there’s a good chance I’m going to show everybody,” Pereira said
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