UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira have had plenty to say about each other before their rematch, but now they’ve actually exchanged words directly – sort of.
In an Instagram Stories video shared by Ankalaev on Thursday, the two men – who meet in the UFC 320 main event Oct. 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas – had an awkward encounter while at the UFC Performance Institute. The edited clip shows Ankalev standing and appearing to speak Russian into a phone held by a man (presumably a member of Pereira’s team). The man then relays the message to Pereira in Portuguese, inducing a response.
“The same thing, you just keep throwing words around, but we’re fighting (next week),” Ankalaev says via X account Championship Rounds. “Let’s settle it in the octagon. Why waste time with empty talk?”
To which Pereira replies, “I never said anything. They’re the ones who are always talking. And now when he shows up in front of me, he’s a coward.”
The 18-second video, which can be seen below, cuts off at that point.
Earlier this week on his YouTube channel, Pereira called Ankalaev a “sh*tty champion” and “chump” as he accused Ankalaev of avoiding a run-in while at the UFC PI.
Ankalaev and Pereira are set to run it back roughly seven months after their first fight at UFC 313, which Ankalaev won by unanimous decision to dethrone then-champ Pereira.
