Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev 2 is less than two weeks away.
Scheduled as the main event of UFC 320 on Oct. 4, 2025, the Light Heavyweight title rematch has been simmering in the background. To be frank, the first fight wasn’t all that exciting, as neither man was able to effectively take over the fight or do real damage. There wasn’t much of a personal investment either, as any trash talk was fairly muted once the actual contracts were signed.
Things might be different this time around. “Big Ank” has been vocal and disrespectful on social media towards “Poatan” since becoming champion, and Pereira isn’t impressed. According to the Brazilian knockout artist, Ankalaev recently went into hiding when the two were both at the UFC Performance Institute (PI) simultaneously.
Apparently, Ankalaev didn’t want an altercation after the online trash talk.
“Something funny happened just now when I was leaving the PI,” Pereira said on his YouTube channel (via MMA Junkie). “I saw Ankalaev’s coach there. I stayed to myself, I didn’t see Ankalaev there. And the funny thing is, when I left the PI, when I got into my car, someone from my team was still inside and he heard the girl from the PI say to Ankalaev, ‘He can come now, he’s already left.’ Like damn, he was hiding. They hid the guy in a little room man. The guy thinks I’m going to run into him and start fighting. Do I look stupid, bro?
“This guy talks nonsense. I hadn’t even seen (his posts on X), for real. Honestly I would’ve handled it way better. But the fact that the guy hides in a room because I’m in the same place as him. He’s a chump. He’s a chump. I’ll keep to myself, you know? I’ll never pick a fight with the guy, never start something. Of course, unless he comes at me. I have to defend myself too. But what kind of champion is that man? A s—t champion. I know that’s harsh, but he’s a s—tty champion, man. A guy like that. And you know why? Not because of what he says, but hiding in a room today. He’s shown he’s a coward man. We’ll see. Hiding now. We’ll be in the cage, locked in there. Unless he jumps the fence. He’s a s—tty champion, this guy.”
Admittedly, Ankalaev didn’t seem very cowardly last time the two met in the Octagon, as he was actually the man pressing forward more often than not. With this being the final collision of Pereira vs. Ankalaev, hopefully both men are willing to take chances and engage when it actually counts.
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