Alex Pereira fires back at Ankalaev’s coach criticism | UFC 320
UFC 320’s Alex Pereira spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters Tuesday ahead of his light heavyweight title rematch vs. Magomed Ankalaev in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – There’s not just reclamation of a belt at stake for Alex Pereira on Saturday.
He also has an opportunity to add his name to the UFC history books in yet another way if he wins back the light heavyweight title in the UFC 320 main event. It would mean a second reign as the 205-pound champion for Pereira – who also was middleweight titleholder.
The only other two-division champion in UFC history to have a second reign in one of the divisions was Randy Couture, and he’s in the UFC Hall of Fame.
Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) almost certainly is headed there some day, himself, regardless of what happens at T-Mobile Arena. But the fact is, if he beats Magomed Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) to win back the light heavyweight strap, he’ll know there will be a lot of meaning behind it when the history books are written.
That’d be huge – really important,” Pereira told MMA Junkie and other reporters through a translator Tuesday. “I’ve done everything very quickly in the UFC, more than anyone else, so I’m going to take this opportunity and really seize it.”
Ankalaev upset Pereira in March at UFC 313 to win the belt. The unanimous decision loss was Pereira’s first setback at 205 pounds after a 5-0 run once he moved up from middleweight.
In the rematch at UFC 320, he’s in territory he hasn’t been in since his epic pair of fights with ex-middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, and that’s as a betting underdog. Ankalaev is nearly a 2-1 favorite in the rematch.
There’s been some bad blood in the buildup, too. But Pereira said if he recaptures the title against Ankalaev on Saturday, it still won’t hold a candle to the feeling he had when he first beat Adesanya, years after he had beaten him in kickboxing, too.
“Nothing compares to that win over Adesanya, with the whole history and kickboxing, everything that we went through,” Pereira said. “A lot of people sometimes think that to promote a fight, you’ve just got to say a lot of things and have this animosity, and that’s not what it is. You’ve got to have that history, that background. (Ankalaev is) doing it all wrong.”
Check out Pereira’s full scrum in the video above.
