UFC 320: Alex Pereira reacts to criticism from Magomed Ankalaev coach
Alex Pereira reacts to Magomed Ankalaev’s coach calling him an “old kickboxer” who doesn’t have true KO power ahead of UFC 320.
LAS VEGAS – Alex Pereira has warned Magomed Ankalaev’s coach after his recent comments about his power.
Ankalaev’s head coach, Sukhrab Magomedov, made some bold claims about Pereira’s striking, calling him an old kickboxer who doesn’t have a punch that can really knock you out. Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) was outstruck in his title loss to Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) at UFC 313 in March.
A proven knockout artist, Pereira could only laugh off Magomedov’s comments.
“For sure it’s just talk. He saw it in my fight with Ankalaev, but he also saw it in all the other fights,” Pereira told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter Tuesday. “Even the ref said that in 30 years he hadn’t seen anything like that. But it’s good, let him think that. He’ll be in for a surprise.
“When those videos come out, I skipped through it. I don’t watch the other guy, I don’t watch any of his stuff. I’ll watch what I’m doing. I’ll watch my fight with him, but I don’t want to hear about what he’s doing. I don’t want to see what he’s doing. I swear, I don’t watch him.”
Pereira will get an opportunity to reclaim his light heavyweight title when he runs thing back with Ankalaev in Saturday’s UFC 320 (pay-per-view, FX/ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+) headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Check out Pereira’s full scrum in the video below.
