Magomed Ankalaev Burns The Bridge With Alex Pereira Ahead Of UFC 320
Light heavyweight king Magomed Ankalaev had some choice words for Alex Pereira in the build up to their rematch at UFC 320.
Back at UFC 313 Ankalaev snatched the belt from reigning champion Pereira. The victory came at long last as Ankalaev has pushed towards 205lbs gold for years. Now unbeaten in 14 straight UFC bouts many believe the Russian reign could be long standing. The first defence is a warranted rematch due to the brief but iconic reign of Pereira. The Brazilian racked up four title fights in under 12 months and the activity level matched with the seismic performances made him the face of the UFC.
After a relatively one-sided first bout back in March it seems an upset is farfetched but not unthinkable particularly when ‘Poatan’ is involved.
Magomed Ankalaev Stirs the pot
The Russian gave his thoughts on the recent comments of Pereira regarding a supposed interaction at the UFC Performance Institute.
“Honestly, up until recently, I had respect for him as a fighter and as a person,” The champion told MMA Junkie through an interpreter Thursday. “I no longer respect him because, OK, trash talk is something to hype up the fight, maybe you say something funny, or to be salty, but when you lie to people and say, ‘I saw him, and he hid,’ and stuff like that he recently said, I don’t respect people like that. Why would you lie about something that never happened?” Quotes via MMAJunkie.
The rivalry is well and truly simmering ahead the rematch at UFC 320 on October 4th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
