It seems the time is ticking on Alex Pereira’s UFC light heavyweight championship rematch.
Pereira was beaten by Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 in March, bringing an end to his entertaining reign at 205 pounds in his fourth defense.
Having enjoyed a largely dominant rule, it seemed certain that Pereira would receive an immediate chance at avenging that loss. In addition to UFC CEO Dana White implying as much, Ankalaev publicly accepted another clash against ‘Poatan’.
However, uncertainty arose after the Brazilian turned down the rematch for UFC 317 on June 28. Alleged rejections for the rest of the summer have led Ankalaev to give up on Pereira returning anytime soon.
Now, the former middleweight and light heavyweight king has been given his deadline.
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Magomed Ankalaev’s manager says latest Alex Pereira can accept title rematch is October
While in Newark for Kayla Harrison’s title shot at UFC 316, Ali Abdelaziz sat down for an interview with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn.
Abdelaziz, who manages Ankalaev, provided an update on the light heavyweight title picture, corroborating the champion’s claims about Pereira turning down their rematch for August.
The Dominance MMA CEO acknowledged that ‘Poatan’ is deserving of the first shot, but he insisted that the UFC’s annual October pay-per-view in Abu Dhabi will feature Ankalaev — with or without Pereira.
“Listen, we got asked to fight International Fight Week, we said yes,” Abdelaziz said. “We got asked to fight Alex in August, we said yes. We got asked to fight October.
“This is what Maga is saying: ‘Alex is at every event. He’s on vacations, he’s doing this – I don’t know if he’s really going to fight me or he’s just having fun. … I’m killing myself in the gym. I don’t know when I’m fighting him. I’m the champion, I feel like I’m the challenger.’
“I said if he’s not ready, let me get him some of these other guys,” Abdelaziz added. “I think Alex Pereira earned it, and I think he deserves it. If we have to wait, it’s OK. … (but a) hundred percent — if it’s not Abu Dhabi, he will fight someone else, for sure.”
Alex Pereira broke his silence to address UFC title rematch uncertainty
While those remarks might spur some anxiety in the minds of Pereira’s supporters, the ex-kickboxer did recently surface to provide them with some reassurance.
In a video posted by the UFC Brasil YouTube channel, Pereira rejected Ankalaev’s retirement claim, insisting that he will soon reveal the details of his next fight after taking “time off to rest.”
“We’ll definitely be talking about my next fight soon,” Pereira said.
“I don’t have a specific date yet, but we already have an idea. I took this time off to rest, because I worked hard in 2024. I think my body got tired, I had some injuries, so I decided to take it easy, more on the recovery side, and now I’m coming back.
“To come back [the right way]: firm and strong, to go after my belt again.”
A rematch with Ankalaev would mark uncharted territory in the UFC for Pereira.
Both of his rematches to date have come against opponents he defeated first time around, Israel Adesanya and Jiri Prochazka.