Alex Pereira remains silent as Magomed Ankalaev sends another threatening message amid title feud

10/29/2024 01:58 PM

Alex Pereira is continuing to remain silent in the face of a continuous verbal onslaught from his next title contender.

It was Saturday night when Magomed Ankalaev outpointed Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 to cement his spot as the top light-heavyweight title prospect. But Pereira was busy enjoying the Mexican Grand Prix over the weekend, and appears to have made no comment on the fight.

Fans trolled Pereira as he continued to post on social media during the event, but seemingly had no interest in what was happening in his division. And at the time of writing on Tuesday, he still has yet to post about his rival’s big win.

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Magomed Ankalaev called out Alex Pereira after UFC 308 win

Heading into Saturday night’s event, one of the most confusing matchups on the main card saw Magomed Ankalaev take on Aleksandar Rakic in a number one contender bout. The light-heavyweights are the only two top five contenders who Alex Pereira has yet to knock out.

But it seemed that Ankalaev was a clear number one contender, making the fact he was booked in this spot instead of as the Brazilian’s opponent at UFC 307 a confusing one. Instead, number eight Khalil Rountree Jr was drafted in for the October 5 date and Ankalaev was forced to go once more.

And while his performance in the octagon flattered to deceive against a tough Rakic, he managed to emerge victorious. After the fact, he even managed to break out some English in order to call out the champion, albeit with some help from Daniel Cormier and a translator.

First speaking through a translator, Ankalaev told the legendary commentator in his post-fight interview: “I think I have done everything to deserve the next title shot. I’d like to talk to Alex and I’d like to tell him ‘hey, stop running away from me’. We should fight, that’s what everybody wants to see.”

And Cormier then reminded him of an English lesson they had engaged in a few days prior during an interview. With some help from his translator, Ankalaev managed to get out a brief message in English, telling Pereira: “Alex, stop running away from me.”

Magomed Ankalaev recalls Alex Pereira’s sole UFC loss in fresh callout

Since that callout, it has been radio silence from Pereira towards Ankalaev. He has been enjoying life in Mexico as part of a sponsored trip, and it remains to be seen if he has even watched the fight from this weekend.

As a result, Ankalaev has decided to reiterate his efforts at making the fight, taunting Pereira over his sole UFC defeat to Israel Adesanya from March of last year. The Brazilian had already defeated the legendary Nigerian twice in kickboxing and once in MMA, but was stopped in their octagon rematch.

The Russian shared a video of that knockout with the aggressive caption: “@AlexPereiraUFC if this is skinny guy make you sleep what do you think I can do to you? Please @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite get my next meal ready for me.”

For his part, it does appear that UFC CEO Dana White wants the fight next. After the event on Saturday, he told the gathered media "I would have to say yes,” when asked if Ankalaev is the only contender at this point.

Alex Pereira remains silent in the face of Magomed Ankalaev’s calls for a fight

However, for now it appears that Ankalaev’s efforts at getting the fight are falling on deaf ears. Pereira has not been inactive on social media since the victory, posting countless Instagram stories and a number of videos showing himself enjoying the festivities at the Formula 1 race.

He was initially being trolled by fans for avoiding Ankalaev’s jibes, but that even appears to have died down. The comments sections for his latest posts, including a video of him as pit crew for one of the teams, almost bare no mention of the Russian.

Instead, fans are joking that Pereira is “completing side quests”. And they are even teasing other fights like a move back down to middleweight for another crack at the gold against current champion Dricus Du Plessis.

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