Animosity seemingly still exists between the two teams from the UFC 320 main event.
A heated rematch between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev topped Saturday’s pay-per-view card in Las Vegas, as the Dagestani looked to repeat his feat from March, this time in defense of the light heavyweight title.
Unlike UFC 313, ‘Poatan’ came out of the gates fast, and he did so in devastating fashion. Pereira knocked Ankalaev out in just 80 seconds, securing his place back on the throne and successfully exacting the revenge he promised he would get.
That result leveled the score between the pair, but their rivalry does not look to have been settled.
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Alex Pereira’s coach keeps Magomed Ankalaev feud alive with post-fight taunt
Compared with the first clash, things appeared a lot more heated between Ankalaev and Pereira ahead of UFC 320.
Whether it was the fighter himself or his manager is up for debate, but Ankalaev’s X account had posted a number of shots at his challenger in the weeks and months leading up to their rematch.
That trend continued during fight week, with Ankalaev accusing Pereira of greasing at UFC 313 before going at the Brazilian during their pre-fight press conference. The Russian’s team even got in on the action, with his coach downplaying Pereira’s power.
The team of ‘Poatan’ evidently did not forget all of that, and coach Plinio Cruz took the opportunity to send a jibe of his own during a backstage interview with Full Send MMA.
“Ankalaev? (He can go) home, back to mother Russia, but not America,” Cruz said when asked what should be next for his fighter’s defeated rival.
Magomed Ankalaev is paying for his UFC 320 trash talk
Given his confidence and bold predictions, Ankalaev was always likely to get the kind of taunts being dealt his way following a defeat.
In addition to Cruz’s remark and Glover Teixeira immediately rejecting a trilogy proposal from one of the opposition coaches inside the cage, Pereira made Ankalaev pay for his pre-fight comments by bringing back his Khaby Lame-inspired celebration.
‘Poatan’ used the same move to mock Jamahal Hill after knocking out the trash-talking American at UFC 300 in 2024.
Moments after that celebrating over his stunned opponent, Pereira also referenced Ankalaev’s claim that ‘Chama’ was dead and buried.