Alex Pereira wants his belt back.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion’s epic title reign screeched to a halt earlier this month at UFC 313, as Pereira finally met his match in Magomed Ankalaev. The fight, which ended in an Ankalaev unanimous decision, represented Pereira’s fourth title defense in less than one year.
Appearing Wednesday on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” in his first interview since UFC 313, Pereira acknowledged it wasn’t his finest night, but said he still believes he did enough to win.
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“It definitely was not my best performance,” Pereira said through his translator and longtime coach, Plinio Cruz. “It was not an on day, it was more like an off day, like I didn’t feel right.
“At the same time, these few weeks, I tried stay out of it for a little bit so I can rest and absorb everything. But I saw things that I agree [with], things that I don’t [agree with]. For example, the decision.”
Pereira and Cruz both argued their belief that the ex-champ won the first, third and fifth rounds against Ankalaev. All three cageside judges awarded Pereira the first round and two judges awarded Pereira the fifth round; the third round, however, unanimously went to Anklaev on the three official scorecards.
Going into the title fight, one of the biggest questions was how Pereira would handle Ankalaev’s vaunted grappling game. Although “Poatan” may have underperformed in the bout and ultimately lost, he surpassed expectations in the wrestling department, defending all 12 of Ankalaev’s takedown attempts.
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Still, Pereira’s striking output was noticeably lower against Ankalaev than his usual offensive attack. Pereira wouldn’t say definitively, but he believes him throwing fewer punches than usual may have been a natural result of the takedown threat presence. Either way, Pereira doesn’t have any regrets.
“It makes me happy because people always criticize me,” Pereira said of his takedown defense. “I’m a kickboxer, training such a short [time] in grappling, [always hearing] that these guys are going to be too experienced for my grappling, then I go and I show it. So it’s satisfying to me to show my evolution in the game.
“[I have] a few things, of course, to adapt. I’m a guy that I want to stand up with this guy, and this guy tried to take me down. It created awareness where you got to fight at different distance [to account for the threat]. So the thing I had to adapt was not to win points, but I still think that was a good fight.”
In the aftermath of the bout. Ankalaev’s coaches accused the former two-division GLORY Kickboxing champion of greasing for the fight. Pereira strongly rejects that accusation.
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“I absolutely didn’t put anything on my body,” Pereira said. “The way that his coach is putting all this sounds a bit like he’s trying to make an excuse, looking for an excuse to justify the fact that he trained a guy to take me down, but the guy got stuffed on [all] 12 of his takedown attempts.
“You mess up, you don’t do what [you’re] supposed to do, then you try to make excuses to justify that. Absolutely [I] didn’t put anything on my body.
“You also got to ask his coach if we put oil on the mats too,” he added. “Is that why Ankalaev fell on his back? Because he got taken down like that.”
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The loss represented Pereira’s first as a light heavyweight in the UFC — a run which dates back to April 2023, when “Poatan” lost the middleweight title to his old rival Israel Adesanya then moved up in weight.
Once Pereira captured the 205-pound championship in late 2023, he essentially launched on a mission to rack up as many title defenses as quickly as possible, making him one of the most active UFC titleholders in recent memory. However, with great activity comes higher risk for injury.
Pereira, 37, became the subject of whispers this past week when UFC commentator Joe Rogan claimed on his podcast that Pereira came into the Ankalaev fight with a broken hand and norovirus. There’s at least some truth to those rumors, as Pereira confirmed he dealt with injuries, but he declined to go into detail.
“I’m not going to take anything from Ankalaev,” Pereira said. “Many people try to do that type of thing. I’m not that type of guy. Everybody goes through problems. I’m sure he had his own problems too. I had mine. My hand is fine but it did happen with a lot of things, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse.
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“I don’t want to make excuses or use this as leverage for anything. My moment is going to come to win the belt [back], then I’ll disclose anything for you guys.”
According to Pereira, the hindrances affecting him in the lead-up were severe enough that he considered withdrawing from the bout. But despite the outcome of his decisions, “Poatan” is content.
Alex Pereira is motivated to regain the UFC light heavyweight title. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
(Jeff Bottari via Getty Images)
“I conquered a lot,” Pereira said. “I’ve been motivating a lot of people. Anytime I pushed through things, I was able to overcome. That’s our story. Many times [it] worked. This time was not my moment, but I have no regrets.”
Pereira’s entire MMA career thus far has been almost exclusively loaded with accomplishments of the highest order. It took him just three UFC wins before he earned his first middleweight title shot, which saw him end the aforementioned reign of Adesanya via fifth-round stoppage. One year later, he became a champion in the weight class above that, further solidifying an increasingly remarkable legacy.
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The light heavyweight division isn’t exactly flush with compelling top contenders, and Pereira’s résumé is enough to warrant an immediate rematch with Ankalaev. All parties, including UFC CEO Dana White, have already voiced a desire to run the fight back; therefore, it’s just a matter of where and when.
Ankalaev claimed on social media that he’s already received a fight offer for the Pereira rematch in August. Pereira is currently taking a small break, but he fully expects Ankalaev to be next for him.
“Nothing got to me yet [in regards to an official offer], but August is a good date,” Pereira said. “As soon as the contract gets in, I’m signing.
“It doesn’t have to be a knockout [in the rematch], but I feel that I have enough game to do whatever I want with this guy.”
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Mileage tends to vary when it comes to veteran fighters nearing their 40s. With just 15 MMA fights overall, Pereira’s UFC career is still relatively young. As a combat athlete overall, however, he’s been around the block a time or two, fighting 40 times in kickboxing matches on record. So, how much is left?
Ultimately, Pereira isn’t sure, but he hopes it’s longer than expected.
“I don’t know [about fighting past 40]. I would like to, but I don’t know,” he acknowledged.
“It got me thinking, right? When I lost to Israel Adesanya, there were a few things I had to reevaluate in my personal life,” Pereira added of his latest loss. “Things to get better, things to get worse. It’s the same right now. Reevaluate, get better from there. Not too much in training, but overall in life.
“If it was my choice, I wouldn’t have defended the belt after this [Ankalaev] fight [had I won]. I would have went to the heavyweight division or to boxing. It would have to be a big fight, like a superfight or for a belt. They’re still goals.”
