According to reports this evening, former two-weight champion, Alex Pereira has turned down the chance to fight as soon as the end of next month at UFC 317 during International Fight Week, due to a lack of availability to compete so soon.
Pereira, a former light heavyweight and middleweight champion, has been continually linked with an immediate rematch fight with Magomed Ankalaev since their UFC 313 title showdown earlier this year.
And overnight, the newly-minted light heavyweight gold holder, Ankalaev claimed Sao Paulo fan-favorite, Alex Pereira had rejected the chance to fight as soon as UFC 317 at the end of June.
“I was offered to Fight Alex (Pereira) [during] international fight week,” Ankalaev posted on his official X account. “If the man don’t want it let’s move on I’m ready for everyone. I dare you.”
And according to a report from Uncrowned reporter, Ariel Helwani this evening, due to a lack of availability, Pereira turned down the chance to fight at UFC 317 in a light heavyweight title fight against Russian rival, Ankalaev.
Alex Pereira turns down UFC 317 fight return on short-notice
“According to what I’m hearing, Magomed Ankalaev was accurate with what he tweeted,” Helwani posted on X tonight. “The UFC did in fact call Alex Pereira for the rematch with Ankalaev on International Fight Week.”
Last week to boot, Pereira apparently hit out at the UFC for apparent mistreatment, claiming he had been considering retiring from mixed martial arts to boot. However, later that same day, the Brazilian star revealed his social media accounts had been subject to a security breach.
“I’ve received a ton of messages, getting messages from everyone who saw a post from my Twitter,” Pereira said in Portuguese via a video on Instagram.
“I didn’t even know about it, I was hacked. It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, you guys see. But I was hacked and I’ll resolve it. I don’t even know what’s going on. I have a great relationship with UFC. People like to do bad things. That’s that. Chama
