Alex Pereira: Magomed Ankalaev says my name 'because nobody knows he's the champion'

USA Today

4 hours ago

Alex Pereira: Magomed Ankalaev says my name 'because nobody knows he's the champion'
Alex Pereira is unfazed by UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev constantly poking at him.
Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) dethroned Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) to claim the light heavyweight belt at UFC 313 in March. Ankalaev is expecting his first title defense to be an immediate rematch against "Poatan," but has grown impatient of waiting.
Pereira fought four times in the past calendar year, but has opted to take some time off after his title loss. Ankalaev threatened to move on by claiming that Pereira was "done," but the Brazilian is not biting on his taunts.
"It's hard for anyone to do that, a sequence of fights in a year – four fights," Pereira told UFC Brasil in a translated interview. "I think the crowd misses it. He's also promoting a little if he says my name because nobody knows he's the champion, right? So when he says my name he appears a little, but I'm not responding to his provocations because I know it's just to promote. When the time is right, I'll go. I'll talk."
Pereira says he's targeting a return in the final quarter of the year.
"That's my focus. that's what I want the most and it's going to happen," Pereira said on getting his belt back. "We haven't talked about it yet, but we know that it's around October. It could be September, October, November. That date is perfect for me."
Pereira was asked what he would need to do differently to ensure that he beats Ankalaev in the rematch. He lost their first fight by unanimous decision in which he stuffed all 12 of Ankalaev's takedowns, but was ultimately outstruck.
"Some things (will be) different, but I'm telling you that these are details," Pereira said. "It's not something that I will have to retrain and change my game. No, it's the same thing – just correcting some techniques."