Magomed Ankalaev Claps Back After Alex Pereira Laughs Off Trilogy Callout On Instagram – “He Must Have Just Woken Up”

Magomed Ankalaev has fired back at Alex Pereira after ‘Poatan’ mocked him under a post highlighting the Russian’s trilogy callout.

Ankalaev and Pereira have fought twice in the octagon. The first fight at UFC 313 saw the Russian win via. unanimous decision, eventually also becoming the light heavyweight champion. However, Pereira exacted revenge in resounding fashion, seven months later at UFC 320.

Just 80 seconds into the first round, the Brazilian won via TKO to reclaim the light heavyweight belt. Ankalaev hasn’t fought since then (with his next fight against Bogdan Guskov in a few days’ time), while Pereira fought Ciryl Gane, moving up to heavyweight, only to be finished in the second round at UFC Freedom 250.

More recently, Pereira had mocked Ankalaev under a post where the latter had called him out for a trilogy. Dropping a comment under the Instagram post, ‘Poatan’ had written:

Hahahahahahahaha, are you alive?

Ankalaev was asked about this during the media day for his fight against Guskov. The Russian fired back at Pereira, bringing up his TKO loss against Gane. He said:

Alex Pereira must have been sleeping for a long time because I believe that he was put to sleep pretty hard, so he must have just woken up and must have forgotten that I’m alive still. If you have a way to connect to him or pass a message on my behalf, tell him that, ‘Yeah, I’m alive and well and I’m waiting to see what he can show.’

Check out Magomed Ankalaev’s comments below:

Magomed Ankalaev fires back at Alex Pereira after Pereira replied to his trilogy callout via Red Corner MMA, saying Pereira “must have just woken up” after being put to sleep and forgotten that he’s still around.

“Alex Pereira must have been sleeping for a long time because I… pic.twitter.com/ZJwUBe8Ycg

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) July 23, 2026

Magomed Ankalaev was Actually Set To Take on Khalil Rountree Jr

Before being booked against Bogdan Guskov, Khalil Rountree Jr. was Magomed Ankalaev’s opponent at UFC Abu Dhabi. However, due to an injury to Rountree Jr., Guskov stepped in as the replacement on short notice.

It is also worth noting that Guskov had his fight scheduled for the 1st of August, a rematch against veteran Jan Blachowicz. The two had fought to a majority draw in December 2025 at UFC 323.