Alex Pereira has confirmed that he came into his first fight against Magomed Ankalaev compromised, and claims he fought at less than half his full potential.
Pereira lost his light heavyweight title to
Ankalaev at UFC 313 in March via what some have described as a listless performance. Judges saw the fight 49-46, 48-47, and 48-47 for his Russian opponent, who used a heavy clinch game with crisp striking on the exits to smother and negate the Brazilian’s explosive power.
In a new interview with Brian Campbell, Pereira opened up on the loss and how it affected him mentally.
“Dealing with a loss is not cool,” he said through his translator. “But honestly, if I put together everything that was going on with me, and I’m not gonna say it right now, it makes me happy that I was able to do the fight that I did with everything that was going on with me.”
“Honestly, I was about 40% for that fight, on that night,” Pereira added. “And obviously it’s gonna be much more this time. If I’m only 50%, that 10% is gonna make such a great difference. I’m gonna leave no doubt for everybody.”
Ankalaev’s team has repeatedly accused Pereira of greasing for their first fight. “Poatan” shrugged off the accusation when asked about it by Campbell.
“I think he don’t like because I was able to prove that he’s not that good,” he said. “I’m a striker, he’s a grappler. He’s supposed to be taking me down, but I was able to show to everybody that he’s not that great.”
Despite all the recent drama and UFC Performance Institute drama, Pereira insists his mindset is locked in while Ankalaev is the one who is bothered.
“I’m normal. He’s the one that seem nervous,” Pereira said of his opponent. “Seem to be a little scared if you see all the videos on my channel. Like, me and the team always talking, always cool. He’s the one that seem to be affected more by it.”
