Tag: Alex Pereira

Magomed Ankalaev: UFC champ Alex Pereira knows all too well not to fight me on short notice

Magomed Ankalaev claims he was ready to save UFC 310, but Alex Pereira wasn’t.

[autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] claims he was ready to save UFC 310, but [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] wasn’t.

Ankalaev is eager to get his title shot against light heavyweight champion Pereira, to the point that he’s even willing to do it without a full camp. When welterweight champion Belal Muhammad was forced out of his title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov, UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas lost it’s main event.

Both Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) and Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) hinted that they’d be ready to replace that fight, but Ankalaev says only he was.

“Fake news, I’m the only one who was ready for December but he deserve rest.”

Pereira has competed in three title fights in the span of six months, knocking out Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and most recently Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 in October.

He revealed in an interview with Brazilian podcast Podpah (h/t MMA Fighting) that his hand is still hurting him from his fight against Rountree.

“That fourth round, I was throwing jabs and hurting my hand,” Pereira said. “I swear. I was thinking, ‘My hand must be broken.’ It still hurts. Not all the time, no, but if I squeeze here, it hurts.”

Riding a 13-fight unbeaten streak, most recently defeating Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308, Ankalaev jibed at Pereira for not accepting to fight him on short notice.

“Willing to fight everyone short notice but with me, he knows he have to be ready, he’s not stupid.”

Ankalaev also said that his title fight with Pereira could happen in the first quarter of 2025.

“I was offered three dates December, February, and March and I agreed to all three dates I have to win by KO I have no problem. It is condition.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Daniel Cormier makes case for Ilia Topuria as Fighter of the Year over Alex Pereira

Daniel Cormier argues that Ilia Topuria’s 2024 was more impressive than Alex Pereira’s. Is he wrong?

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] argues that Ilia Topuria’s 2024 was more impressive than [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]’s.

Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to claim the featherweight title at UFC 298 in February. He then retained his belt at Saturday’s UFC 308 main event by becoming the first to knock out Max Holloway. Light heavyweight champion Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) fought three times in the span of six months – scoring knockouts of Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka and most recently Khalil Rountree at UFC 307.

Based on the level of competition, Cormier gives the nod to Topuria for Fighter of the Year over Pereira.

“The Fighter of the Year conversation felt like it was over,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Like, Alex Pereira was the guy that was the Fighter of the Year, no questions asked. That’s not the case. I think that these two wins singularly are as good as any two wins anybody can have, no disrespect to Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree. (Topuria) just beat the two best fighters of the generation prior, but they’re still in this generation, because they’re both very, very young. He just beat two of the greatest featherweights of all time.

“There’s only three, and he beat two of them in a calendar year. Ilia Topuria is the Fighter of the Year. He is the Fighter of the Year, and in my opinion, there is no questions to be asked. That result makes it true. Paul Felder told me it would be like Alex fighting Jon (Jones) and I in our prime and knocking us both out in the same calendar year, and if I’m being completely honest, I don’t know that he could have done that. Ilia just did it. Beat those guys in their prime. It was very, very impressive.”

When asked for his pick during the UFC 308 post-fight news conference, UFC CEO Dana White was on the fence.

“I don’t know, that’s a tough one,” White said. “I’d have to look at more numbers and stats, but you know, you can’t take it away from either one of them, what they’ve done this year. I mean, Alex, when you look at Alex, he’s on vacation in Australia.

“We call him, and packs up, and heads home, and comes into the fight. I mean, he’s built different that guy. It’s like he doesn’t even care about a full camp. He doesn’t care if he’s hurt. He didn’t care about anything. He’ll get in there and fight.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Sean O’Malley dubs Ilia Topuria ‘a little f*cking Alex Pereira’ after knockout of Max Holloway at UFC 308

Sean O’Malley was in awe of Ilia Topuria’s power at UFC 308.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] was in awe of [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag]’s power at UFC 308.

Featherweight champion Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) became the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in Saturday’s main event in Abu Dhabi. During a watch-along on his YouTube channel, O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) gave a live reaction to Topuria’s devastating knockout.

“God, Ilia’s a f*cking finisher though, huh? He’ll jump on you,” O’Malley said. “I think Ilia might have took that Round (1) just because he took his back at the end, but that was a super close round. … Ilia’s so dangerous until the last bell.”

O’Malley scored Round 2 for Holloway, but after Topuria tagged him with a left hook to finish the fight in Round 3, he couldn’t help but praise “El Matador,” whom he was previously angling to fight. O’Malley compared Topuria’s finishing abilities to UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag], who has knocked out his past four opponents in a row.

“Ilia just hurt Max bad,” O’Malley reacted. “Ilia lands a bomb, and Max is still stunned. He’s playing it off good. Oh, left hook! Ilia finishes Max Holloway with a left hook in Round 3. Holy sh*t, Ilia is that guy. Wow.

“Who, at 145, wants to fight Ilia right now? Ilia’s just so dangerous the whole fight. He’s a like a little f*cking Alex Pereira. You can’t tell me Islam (Makhachev) vs. f*cking Ilia isn’t a fight you would want to see.”

O’Malley lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 in September. He underwent hip surgery after the fight and is targeting a return in the first half of 2025.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Is the UFC protecting champ Alex Pereira? Magomed Ankalaev thinks so after UFC 308

Magomed Ankalaev has been on the cusp of greatness in the UFC, and the road back, he’s finding, sometimes has unexpected bumps.

ABU DHABI – [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] has been on the cusp of greatness in the UFC, and the road back, he’s finding, sometimes has unexpected bumps.

There haven’t been bumps for Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) that involve losses. Saturday, he outworked Aleksandar Rakic (14-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) at UFC 308 and stayed on track at light heavyweight.

It’s been nearly two years since Ankalaev fought Jan Blachowicz for the then-vacant light heavyweight title. They fought to a draw, and the belt stayed without an owner. Ankalaev fought Johnny Walker 10 months after that and had to deal with a no contest.

But he knocked him out when they ran it back earlier this year, and his win over Rakic, UFC CEO Dana White said, likely makes him next for 205-pound champ [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]. But Ankalaev thinks the UFC might be trying to keep its busiest titleholder safe.

“Let’s do it: Alex, stop running away from me. … I have heard that he wants to fight during Ramadan. We are not fighting in Ramadan. Otherwise, after Ramadan or before Ramadan, if he says yes, we will fight him.”

There has been talk that Pereira, a former middleweight champion, as well, could move to heavyweight to go after a historic third belt. If that happens before a potential fight with Ankalaev, he thinks it might speak volumes.

“I think he’s being protected,” Ankalaev said. “I’m not sure why the UFC is doing it. I think they’re protecting him. We know that he’s an exciting fighter. We know that he fights in the standup. He’s a great striker. So I think that they’re just saving him, protecting him.”

Ankalaev hasn’t lost since his UFC debt in early 2018 – a submission to Paul Craig that remains the lone loss of his career. Over a nine-month stretch ahead of his vacant title fight with Blachowicz, he had three straight wins over former title challengers Volkan Oezdemir, Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith.

“I don’t care who I fight in this division. I’ve already fought all the top fighters,” Ankalaev said. “If Pereira goes to heavyweight, I don’t care. I’ll fight anyone who is in the UFC. Whoever UFC puts in front of me, that’s who will fight for the title.”

But if some way, somehow, it’s Pereira, Ankalaev thinks the belt is coming home with him.

“It’s MMA, so of course I can strike with him,” he said. “I can wrestle with him. I don’t really think that this is going to be that much of a hard fight for me. I think I’ve had harder fights in the division.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Overreaction Time: Jones vs. Ngannou WILL happen, UFC rankings useless, Sean O’Malley a fraud, more!

Check out the first episode of “Overreaction Time” as host Simon Samano and Farah Hannoun debate an array of topics in MMA.

The time for overreacting is here!

Check out the first episode of “Overreaction Time” as host Simon Samano and MMA Junkie reporter Farah Hannoun debate these “overreactions” on the following topics in mixed martial arts:

  • Make no mistake: [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] is the No. 1 heavyweight in the world.
  • Because the UFC can’t say no to money, we WILL get Francis Ngannou vs. [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] next year.
  • [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] is the best UFC fight for the rest of the year.
  • The UFC should just get rid of the official rankings altogether.
  • [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] getting an immediate title rematch would be ridiculous.
  • Sean O’Malley was a fraudulent UFC champion.
  • [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] needs to keep [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]’s name out of his mouth.
  • The UFC would be foolish not to book [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] early next year.

Watch the full episode in the video above.

Max Holloway doubts he can surpass Alex Pereira for Fighter of the Year with Ilia Topuria win

Max Holloway was honest in response when asked about his potential running for Fighter of the Year.

[autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] was honest in response when asked about his potential running for Fighter of the Year.

Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) kicked off his 2024 with an iconic last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje to claim the BMF title at UFC 300. He challenges featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 308 (pay-per-view, ESPN+) headliner at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

If Holloway can pull off another upset vs. Topuria and reclaim his featherweight title, he certainly would be a candidate for Fighter of the Year. But over UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]? “Blessed” says that’s highly unlikely.

“I mean, I don’t know, man,” Holloway told Kevin Iole. “I don’t know if they would do (Fighter of the Year for me). The way Alex took fights – he’s the fastest guy to defend his title, right, with three title defenses (in 175 days)? That’s a hard man to beat. Every time I’m in the talks for it, somebody’s having a crazy year. I think Alex Pereira has got the win in the bag already.”

With Holloway currently the BMF champion and a ranked UFC lightweight after his finish of Gaethje, he’s not short of options. However, he’s not ready to map out any plans until he fights Topuria.

“We’ll see what happens,” Holloway said. “First thing’s first is Ilia Topuria. I’m not going to look past him. That guy’s a dangerous man, and he deserves all the respect in the world from me and all my focus, so that’s the first thing. Everything goes right come Oct. 26 and I get my hand raised, you can ask me that question after.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Video: UFC champ Alex Pereira’s sister Aline scores vicious knockout at Karate Combat 50

Knockouts just seem to run in the family. Aline Pereira looked eerily like her brother Alex in his highlight reel KO at Karate Combat 50.

Devastating knockouts from left hooks appear to be the Pereira family signature.

UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] was pit-side in Salt Lake City at Karate Combat 50 to watch his sister, [autotag]Aline Pereria[/autotag], take on Dee Begley.

Unfortunately for Begley, who weighed nine pounds more than the originally agreed-upon weight, would fall victim to a signature Pereira combo.

Aline fired a right hand followed by a left hook sending Begley crashing to the canvas. Aline rushed in and rained down follow-up punches until the referee stopped the action with about 35 seconds remaining in the first round.

The celebration was on, and Aline ran over to embrace Alex while Begley poured blood from her nose.

Check out video of the finish below (via X):

During her post-fight interview, Pereira acknowledged she learned the combo from her brother. She also admitted there was frustration with Begley for missing weight, and was critical of her professionalism.

Aline, who has a kickboxing background like her brother Alex, stepped into the Karate Combat pit for the first time and created a highlight reel moment. As an MMA fighter, Aline is 1-2, with her most recent fight taking place September 2023.

For now, Aline appears eager to return to Karate Combat to create more magic.

October has been good to the Pereira family, as Alex just recorded his third light heavyweight title defense last weekend by stopping Khalil Rountree in a Fight of the Night war at UFC 307.

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Carlos Ulberg studying UFC champ Alex Pereira: ‘I’m coming up, and soon I’ll get my chance’

Carlos Ulberg thinks his chance to challenge UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira could come sooner than expected.

[autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag] thinks his chance to challenge UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] could come sooner than expected.

Ulberg (10-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) takes on former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir (20-7 MMA, 8-6 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 248 Nov. 23 from Galaxy Arena in Macau, China.

Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) is fresh off his third light heavyweight title defense – a brutal fourth-round finish of Khalil Rountree in the UFC 307 headliner. A former kickboxer himself, Ulberg wasn’t surprised to see Rountree pose problems for Pereira.

“I had my money on Rountree,” Ulberg told Sky Sport New Zealand. “I thought Rountree would do well, given he’s quite explosive and it’ll give a different look to Alex Pereira. But as the rounds went on, I think Pereira came back and he stuck to his game plan, which was to tire him out and make use of the explosive power Rountree was using and over-using.”

Watching No. 8 ranked Rountree get a title shot, Ulberg won’t rule out the possibility of getting his chance with a win over Oezdemir.

“I’ve been studying Alex for a while now. He’s at the top and he’s the prime right now,” Ulberg said. “He’s definitely someone that everyone’s keeping an eye on, so knowing that he’s got a high fight IQ, it is always good to sit back and see how he operates in the octagon.

“I’m coming up, and soon I’ll get my chance. …  Once I get through Oezdemir, which is going to be a hard task for sure, it’s free rein from there and it’ll give me the opportunity to go for the light heavyweight title. As you’ve seen the No. 8 who’s just fought for the light heavyweight title, at any given time we’re going to be called up for that.”

Ulberg has some adversity to deal with before stepping into the cage against Oezdemir. The City Kickboxing standout revealed that he broke his toe six weeks’ out of his fight, but has no intentions of pulling out.

“I just broke my toe yesterday in sparring and didn’t realize that I’d broken it until doing my sit-ups and seeing it was facing the other way,” Ulberg said. “It’s just going through all that pain and struggle, and doing it all over again the next day. So, until then, it’s just doing what I need to do, what’s been working in my favor in the past, and just trying to keep to the same formula really.”

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Chael Sonnen questions Tom Aspinall’s takedown ability in potential Alex Pereira UFC heavyweight fight

Chael Sonnen likes Alex Pereira’s chances against Tom Aspinall.

[autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] likes [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]’s chances against [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag].

Light heavyweight champion Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) notched his third title defense when he brutally took out Khalil Rountree in Round 4 of their UFC 307 headliner in Salt Lake City.

Pereira said he plans on staying put at 205 pounds for the time being, but would like to move up to heavyweight someday. “Poatan” posted an image of interim heavyweight champion Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) watching him on, which has Sonnen salivating at the idea of a potential matchup between the two.

Although Aspinall’s grappling is expected to pose problems for Pereira, Sonnen isn’t sure if he’d succeed in getting to the necessary positions to take him down.

“I cannot guarantee you that the younger, bigger guy in Tom would win,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “There’s just something special about Alex, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. But I don’t know that Tom has the skills to just go out and take him down, so we might have to take that off of the board.

“I think Alex would have a really hard time getting up because of the size, but to get him there, Tom’s probably going to want to trade, probably have a little bit of ego like everybody else of, ‘Let me show all of you,’ and it might work out for him. But, it just might be a very dangerous proposition as well.”

Aspinall currently awaits the winner of the heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, which headlines UFC 309 on Nov. 16 in New York. But with Jones and a couple of his coaches hinting that “Bones” could be making the final walk at Madison Square Garden, Aspinall’s future is uncertain.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Israel Adesanya: Khalil Rountree’s ‘stock goes up after’ UFC 307 loss to Alex Pereira

Israel Adesanya gives his opinion on Alex Pereira’s title defense against Khalil Rountree a UFC 307.

Give credit where credit is due. Former UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] paid his respect to both [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] and [autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag] following their recent clash.

This past Saturday, Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) gave fans one of the best championship fights of the year, going toe to toe for almost 20 minutes in the main event of UFC 307 in Salt Lake City.

Although the result was maybe expected, many were taken away by Rountree’s toughness and competitiveness, while also admiring Pereira’s comeback ability and skill. Adesanya was one of them.

“He lasted longer than I thought he would,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “At least someone else took him to the fourth round. It shows how good Khalil is. Again he’s (Pereira) got some hard fights in front of him, but he is that guy right now, he’s on.

“Honestly, I called it, but I thought it was going to be earlier. Shout out to Khalil because fighting with a broken nose and the intelligence not to blow his nose in the fight, respect. His stock goes up after this. What a moment.”

With the victory, Pereira is now on a five-fight winning streak since moving up to 205 pounds and has three title defenses. He won the light heavyweight title by stopping former champ Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 last November, and went on to pick up his first title defense in April at UFC 300 by finishing Jamahal Hill. “Poatan” then returned on short notice at UFC 303 in June, where he defeated Prochazka in a rematch.

On the other hand, Rountree saw his five-fight winning streak come to an end. This was his first UFC title opportunity in the eight years he’s been in the promotion.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.