It is safe to say that the MMA community is unconvinced by Magomed Ankalaev’s recent claim.
Ankalaev is deep into his preparation for the UFC 320 pay-per-view on October 4, where the Russian will defend the light heavyweight title for the very first time.
After Ankalaev defeated Alex Pereira at UFC 313, the newly crowned champion will need to repeat that feat when he returns to Las Vegas to ensure his reign continues beyond the first hurdle.
In the lead-up to the rematch, the light heavyweight titleholder has engaged in significantly more trash talk. And Ankalaev’s words appear to have rattled Pereira, who himself has exchanged in more pre-fight jabs than usual.
But is it actually Ankalaev behind the messages?
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Magomed Ankalaev insists he is the one posting, not Ali Abdelaziz
Ankalaev is managed by Dominance MMA CEO Ali Abdelaziz. Whether it be Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, or other prominent names under his banner, the Egyptian has long been accused of controlling his fighters’ social media accounts.
Given Ankalaev’s limited understanding of English and his increase in trash talk on X, many have concluded that Abdelaziz is behind the comments being directed at Pereira ahead of the October 4 PPV.
The latest post apparently saw the Russian address the claim and deny his manager’s involvement.
“Just for all the fans out there, for the last two months I make my own tweets,” Ankalaev wrote.
“Chat GPT and Google Translator is the best.”
But again, the question arose: was Ankalaev behind the message?
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Fans still believe Ali Abdelaziz is behind Magomed Ankalaev’s trash talk
It did not take long for fans to respond to the claim, and it seems Ankalaev has some more persuading to do.
The majority reacted the same way, reiterating their belief that Abdelaziz is behind his fighter’s posts.
“Ali, Ali…come on, now. We know it’s you.”
“Lia liar pants on fire @AliAbdelaziz00.”
“Lmao, the tweets and the way you are in real life don’t match at all bro. But Ali’s personality and the tweets match.”
“We know it’s you Ali.”
“No one’s buying this Ali.”
“Ali has been running this account since March.”
“C’mon man, Ali still has your login details and sends post on your behalf disguised as You. The tone is different. Good to hear some of the posts are yours though.”
“Nice try Ali.”