Light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev is tired of waiting for a rematch against Alex Pereira to materialize and is calling for the UFC to move on from “Poatan.”
That’s according to “Big Ank’s” X (formerly Twitter) account, where the Russian fighter is often throwing taunts and shade at his Brazilian rival. Those taunts annoyed Pereira so much when he was champion that he said he’d make it longer and harder for Ankalaev to get a title shot. He followed through with that threat, forcing the devout Muslim to compete during Ramadan.
That didn’t stop Ankalaev from beating Pereira via decision at UFC 313, but it seems like “Poatan” is still making Ankalaev wait around. A rematch between the two was pitched for UFC 317 in June, but Pereira turned it down. He then seemed to threaten retirement if the UFC booked another light heavyweight in his place — before claiming that message was the work of a hacker.
Alex done he never coming back let’s move on June July August I said yes
— Muhammad big ANK Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) June 1, 2025
Now Ankalaev is calling for another fight, claiming Pereira is wasting his time.
“Alex done he never coming back let’s move on,” Ankalaev said on X. “June July August I said yes.”
We’re just two and a half months removed from the original fight between Pereira and Ankalaev, so it’s not like Ankalaev has been shelved unreasonably. But we’d certainly hope to get a date announced for the rematch soon, especially considering the champion wants to fight.
Will that happen? Pereira is still busy traveling the world and has been to Brazil, Japan, and Germany since his loss. Critics questioned whether his busy schedule was going to hurt him leading up to the Ankalaev fight, and his questionable performance at UFC 313 didn’t diminish those concerns.
At this point just being “Poatan” probably makes Alex more money than actually stepping into the cage. A second loss to Ankalaev could damage that, so why would he be in a rush?
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
