Jamahal Hill pinpointed one major change Alex Pereira will have to make for the Magomed Ankalaev rematch.
Now-former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira lost the belt to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 earlier this month, ending his history-making title reign. After successfully defending the title three times in 2024, Pereira looked flat against Ankalaev, losing by unanimous decision.
It was a shocking defeat for Pereira after becoming one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and being on the verge of a potential megafight against Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall. Now, he’ll likely have to regain the light heavyweight throne to make a strong case for an immediate heavyweight title shot against the Jones vs. Aspinall winner.
But for now, Pereira’s attention is focused on getting revenge against Ankalaev and kickstarting another title reign. One of Pereira’s fiercest rivals pointed to one specific adjustment he’ll need to make for the rematch to stop Ankalaev’s unbeaten streak.
Jamahal Hill advises Alex Pereira ahead of likely Magomed Ankalaev rematch
During a recent interview with Home of Fight, Jamahal Hill explained what Pereira will need to do to ensure victory in the Ankalaev rematch.
“I think he can, he’s really capable of making the adjustments he needs to make to win that fight,” Hill said of Pereira. “He’s going to have to be locked into the gym to where he don’t get tired, going to have to up his cardio a lot because his output is going to have to go up.
“His output with the kicks…adding more kicks and working a lot more of having a higher volume with kicks in this fight will get it done. But we’ll see!”
Hill picked against Pereira leading up to UFC 313, siding with Ankalaev and opening the door to a potential knockout finish. Pereira knocked out Hill at UFC 300 last year in what was his first light heavyweight title defense.
In the weeks after UFC 313, Pereira has taken an optimistic approach to an Ankalaev rematch, teasing numerous adjustments he plans on making for their second fight. Ankalaev verbally agreed to the Pereira rematch almost immediately after UFC 313.
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Alex Pereira and his team were accused of cheating at UFC 313
Ankalaev ramped up the heat between himself and Pereira after UFC 313. Ankalaev and his team accused Pereira of greasing inside the Octagon, using an unspecified ointment on his body to make grappling exchanges more difficult.
Ankalaev’s coach primarily blamed Glover Teixeira for the allegations, but as of this writing, there’s no direct evidence of wrongdoing from Pereira or his team. Pereira hasn’t publically commented on Ankalaev’s claims.
Hill will face Khalil Rountree Jr. in the UFC Kansas City main event on April 26th as he looks to bounce back from his loss at UFC 311. He lost to Jiří Procházka by TKO to drop his second consecutive fight.
Pereira isn’t a popular pick to win the rematch against Ankalaev, as evidenced by Robert Whittaker‘s recent analysis. But, if he makes the necessary adjustments, Pereira could potentially return to the throne.
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