Alex Pereira responded to Magomed Ankalaev’s longtime coach’s assertions that he used a body ointment to make grappling difficult at UFC 313.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and newly-crowned titleholder Magomed Ankalaev seemed on cordial terms after their fight at UFC 313. But things took a turn for the worse after Ankalaev’s coach made some wild accusations towards the former champion.
Pereira’s light heavyweight title reign came to an end by unanimous decision against Ankalaev at UFC 313. In what was expected to be the toughest test of his UFC career, Pereira struggled to fend off Ankalaev’s aggressive style, despite pitching a shutout in defense of Ankalaev’s takedown attempts.
A common narrative entering UFC 313 was that Pereira would struggle to deal with Ankalaev’s elite wrestling during their title fight. After stopping all 12 of Ankalaev’s takedown attempts, Pereira drew the ire of Ankalaev’s coach, who proposed a scathing reason for Pereira’s success.
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Alex Pereira responds to Magomed Ankalaev’s coach’s claims he ‘greased’ at UFC 313
Ankalaev’s longtime coach, Sukhrab Magomedov, accused Pereira of using a greasy substance on his body to make grappling him more difficult inside the cage. Magomedov didn’t present any evidence to support his claims, and hinted that Pereira’s cornerman, former champion Glover Teixeira, has a history of greasing.
It’s important to note that as of this writing, Ankalaev hasn’t echoed his coach’s accusations, and he verbally agreed to grant Pereira an immediate rematch. But that didn’t stop Pereira from issuing a defiant response to Magomedov.
In a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, Pereira addressed Magomedov’s cheating accusations.
“Absolutely did not put anything on my body,” Pereira said. “It sounds to me that he’s trying to make an excuse to justify the fact that he trained a guy to take me down, but the guy got stuffed for 12 of his takedown attempts.
“Just like in a company, you mess up, you do what you’re not supposed to do, and you make excuses to justify that…you also have to ask his coach if we put oil and vaseline on the mats too, is that why Ankalaev fell on his back?” Pereira continued. “I’m upset because even in my Glory career, I didn’t do anything I wasn’t supposed to do. If you watch the one time that I got a point taken away, it was because the referee was saying there was too much clinching when there wasn’t.
“I do everything by the book, and that’s why everything’s worked so well in my career.”
Prior to UFC 313, Pereira didn’t test positive for any banned substances, nor was he found using any substances on his body to gain an unfair advantage inside the Octagon. However, this isn’t the first time fighters have been accused of greasing, after UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre‘s infamous corner incident during his fight with BJ Penn.
UFC featherweight Youssef Zalal made similar accusations towards Calvin Kattar after their fight earlier this year.
Alex Pereira planned to call out Oleksandr Usyk with a win at UFC 313
In the interview referenced above, Pereira was asked what he would’ve looked forward to next with a win over Ankalaev at UFC 313. He revealed he planned to call for a boxing match with Oleksandr Usyk, and a superfight at heavyweight, with another successful title defense.
Despite UFC CEO Dana White shutting down a Pereira vs. Usyk fight, that hasn’t stopped Pereira from teasing a potential move to boxing once his MMA career concludes. Before signing with the UFC and focusing on MMA, Pereira made a name for himself in professional kickboxing, earning multiple titles in Glory.
Pereira has also teased a future move to heavyweight to pursue the winner of Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall. As of this writing, Jones vs. Aspinall remains in negotiations, but it’s expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, Pereira is focused on potentially reclaiming the UFC light heavyweight title later this year. If he reclaims the throne, don’t be surprised if Pereira resumes his pursuit of Jones, Aspinall, and Usyk.