No. 2 ranked UFC light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev has been campaigning for a fight with the champion Alex Pereira for months. And it seems, at least according to him, the UFC isn't booking the fight just yet.
On Tuesday, Ankalaev tweeted the UFC is "keeping" Pereira from him.
"[Alex Pereira] kept away from me for a reason, and I do understand this is business," he tweeted tagging the UFC, Dana White and matchmaker Mick Maynard. "Best fight the best and he is the best for now I will keep my work. I will knock him out. Nothing better than you’ve seen an event somebody going to sleep."
He also replied to a video awarding Pereira as the Fighter of the Year in the UFC's mid-year awards. "End of the year he’ll be laying on his back looking at the light and ask his corner, are we back in Brazil this is a promise. I will knock him out," he wrote.
Pereira just fought at UFC 303 where he knocked out Jiří Procházka in their rematch. Ankalaev does seem like the next likely opponent unless Pereira plans to move up to heavyweight, as he's teased in the past. Ankalaev is on a ten-fight win streak if one doesn't count the draw and no contest he had in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
It's unclear when Pereira plans to fight again or who he has in mind for his next challenge.
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