Alex Pereira will seemingly pursue a rematch with Magomed Ankalaev after losing the light-heavyweight title at UFC 313, despite rumours of a move to heavyweight.
Pereira suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Ankalaev in Saturday’s main event in Las Vegas, ending a fine run as champion in which he scored three title defences by TKO in 2024.
The Brazilian previously held the middleweight belt and moved up to light-heavyweight as soon as he lost it, and many fans believed he might do the same after dropping the 205lb gold. But Pereira, 37, will seemingly look to run it back with Ankalaev, 32.
“That’s it, everyone,” Pereira said in a video on Instagram. “Some marks, but I’m good. Gonna rest a bit, I’ll be back like I’ve always done. This has already happened some times, but I’m good.
“I’m grateful for all your support, for all your love, always supporting me. I’m receiving so many messages of great encouragement. I’m here with my people, my family, my team, my children – everyone’s here with me. Gonna have some pizza, that’s that, life continues. Thank you to everyone, thank you to my team.
“Gonna make some adjustments for the rematch, and I’ll be back much better. You can count on it. All good, everyone, never give up on your dreams.”
Ankalaev beat Pereira 49-46, 48-47, 48-47, and while some viewers actually scored the bout in favour of Pereira, Indy Sport had his Russian opponent a comfortable winner.
Should Pereira make an about-turn on a rematch and move to heavyweight, he would likely seek a title match immediately. The title picture is complicated there, however.
Champion Jon Jones should theoretically defend his belt against interim-title holder Tom Aspinall next, but Jones has said for months that he would prefer to fight Pereira. Yet the UFC might force Jones into a bout with Aspinall or strip the title from the American, so Britain’s Aspinall can be elevated to official champion.
That said, UFC president Dana White suggested Pereira vs Ankalaev 2 will be next, in any case.
“Probably,” he said. “[Saturday’s fight] was not what I expected. I expected a lot more shooting [for takedowns], I expected a lot more exchanges. I thought Ankalaev won the fight. I wasn’t shocked when I heard the decision.”
White was also asked whether Pereira’s growing popularity and increased worldwide travel had distracted the Brazilian before UFC 313.
“I think that’s a question definitely for him to answer,” White said. “I definitely don’t know his schedule. I know he’s been bouncing around, but you see this everywhere when somebody becomes a big star and they start making lots of money. There are lots of different doors that open and opportunities.
“But there’s no doubt that everybody knew that Ankalaev was going to be a tough fight for him. Everybody knew that this was probably going to be the biggest challenge of his career.
“I wouldn’t take anything from Ankalaev, and the pressure he put on Alex tonight. [He] kept pushing forward. Even in the fifth round, I was listening on the headphones and Alex’s corner was saying: ‘You’ve got to go after him this round. You have to let everything go. You’ve got to let your hands go. You’ve got to try to take him out.’”
