Dana White & UFC Avoiding Alex Pereira’s Toughest Matchup Triggers Khamzat Chimaev’s Blunt Admission

Alex Pereira has been making some noise in the fighting community. With his recent win over Jiri Prochazka, the MMA world has been demanding the Brazilian prove himself against a strong wrestler. Needless to say, the MMA promotion already has a name for Pereira’s next fight. However, things are moving pretty slowly for the matchup to materialize, or at least that’s what Khamzat Chimaev believes.

Being a pretty good grappler himself, Chimaev put forth his opinion on Pereira’s position in the UFC. Although he too claimed that a wrestler could defeat Pereira, he pointed out that Dana White and Co. were apparently avoiding the LHW champ’s toughest fight.

Khamzat Chimaev opens up on how the UFC moves with Alex Pereira

Chimaev, on the 18th of July, 2024, was interviewed by Aslanbek Badaev, on his talk show, ‘Badaev Vlog’. As the conversation continued, Badaev stumbled upon the ‘Poatan’. As per YouTube’s translator, he was truly impressed by the way Pereira carried himself through his fights. Needless to say, the Brazilian’s striker prowess is top-notch. His recent victories have indeed attracted quite a bit of attention. However, Badaev wanted to know Chimaev’s opinion on how the UFC was leading Pereira in terms of opponents, and if there was someone who could dislodge the man with hands of stone.

The Chechen Wolf, just like Badaev, seemed pretty awestruck with the UFC light heavyweight champ’s punching power. He even believed that the ‘Poatan’ could drop heavyweight fighters, as well. But if Pereira was Superman, wrestling would be his kryptonite. And Chimaev was aware of it. He seemed to reflect back to the time when Israel Adesanya executed a takedown against Pereira. Chimaev claimed that if ‘The Last Stylebender’, a fighter who solely relies on his striking prowess, took down Pereira, other fighters could also do the same.

Yes! Chimaev also believed that Magomed Ankalaev was quite a good match for Pereira to go against. Ankalaev’s wrestling skills are on par with the best in the division, and Pereira indeed needs to prove himself against a wrestler. ‘Borz’ believed that Ankalaev could wrestle against Pereira and win. But he also pointed out that the MMA promotion was avoiding the matchup.

Without a doubt, the entire world of mixed martial arts has been anticipating a fight between Pereira and Ankalaev. Ever since the duo began exchanging words on social media, the heat has kept on rising. The fighting community indeed lies in wait for the two to finally fight. Till then, Ankalaev prohibited Pereira from calling himself a champ. 

Magomed Ankalaev has a message for ‘Poatan’ 

In an interview with ‘TMZ Sports’, Ankalaev sent forth a message to Pereira. He said, “My message to Alex is ‘Alex, hang tight until you beat somebody as well-rounded of a fighter as myself in this division. You cannot call yourself as the champion of the division. Once we face, we’ll figure it out.”

The Russian mixed martial artist even clarified that his team was already negotiating a matchup with Pereira. Ankalaev seemed confident in his prowess. He even deemed Pereira’s punches, yes, the same ones that dropped down numerous fighters, to be a bit slow. The Russian believed that he could easily overcome Pereira with his speed.

However, the bout is yet to be confirmed. Do you think White is going to announce the fight anytime soon? Will Ankalaev actually defeat Pereira? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.