Magomed Ankalaev seeks to secure short-notice fight with Alex Pereira at UFC 310 following Belal Muhammad's withdrawal: "I'm all in. Let's go"
With Belal Muhammad dropping out of UFC 310, and subsequent rumors of Alex Pereira being approached to fill in the main event spot, Magomed Ankalaev is doing all he can to secure his place as 'Poatan's' dance partner.
Earlier this Thursday, Muhammad dropped out of his welterweight title clash against Shavkat Rakhmonov, leaving the promotion's final pay-per-view of the year without a headliner.
Soon after rumors started taking form that Pereira, who has already headlined three events this year, had been approached to top the bill at UFC 310 on a short notice fight against Ankalaev.
'Poatan' then penned a cryptic reply on Instagram with a telephone emoji, further legitimizing the rumors. Now, Ankalaev has expressed his readiness to take on the Brazilian. In a recent post on X, he wrote:
"I spoke to my manager, if the UFC needs me for December 7, I'm all in. Let's go."
Check out Magomed Ankalaev's call out to Alex Pereira below:
The No.1 ranked contender doubled down on his ambitions in a subsequent post, urging UFC matchmaker and VP of fighter relations Mick Maynard to send him the contract.
Check out Magomed Ankalaev's call out to Alex Pereira below:
However, despite the huge interest in the match-up, it seems unlikely that the bout would come to fruition. A recent report by MMA Knockout states that 'Poatan's' team has told Ariel Helwani the UFC has not approached them with a contract.
Furthermore, the light heavyweight champion's team stated that Pereira had some priorly agreed-upon commitments during the time.
Moreover, many including surging contenders Ian Garry and Joaquin Buckley have thrown in their hats as potential opponents for Rakhmonov. UFC 310 is scheduled for Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card features popular names including Ciryl Gane, Nick Diaz, and Alexandre Pantoja.
When Alex Pereira explained why Magomed Ankalaev fight hasn't materialized
Magomed Ankalaev recently got leapfrogged by Khalil Rountree Jr. to the title shot at UFC 307, despite 'The War Horse' being below him in the rankings. Alex Pereira however has a theory as to why the Russian is getting snubbed when it comes to championship bouts.
As 'Poatan' sees it, Ankalaev has a boring style and the fans do not want to see him fight. Speaking to MMA journalist Kevin Iole ahead of his UFC 307 title defense, Pereira said:
"It's not my fault that Ankalaev has such a boring style of fighting that nobody wants to watch, that the guys don't want to put him in. I'm ready to fight the guy. He is ready to fight me, so whenever they put that fight [I'll fight]."
Check out Alex Pereira's comments below (6:33):