UFC Abu Dhabi's Magomed Ankalaev Offers Stunning Admission About Alex Pereira Rematch

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Magomed Ankalaev has shed more light on the health issues he was dealing with heading into his second meeting with Alex Pereira.

Currently sitting one spot behind Pereira at #2 in the Meta UFC light heavyweight rankings, Ankalaev is set to return this weekend for the first time since losing his belt when he headlines UFC Abu Dhabi opposite Bogdan Guskov.

Ankalaev was originally booked to meet former title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr. before the latter fighter withdrew with an injury, which allowed Guskov to jump on the short-notice opportunity after he was already preparing to rematch Jan Blachowicz next weekend at UFC Belgrade.

Magomed Ankalaev Admits Alex Pereira Rematch Was a "Mistake"

Fans have heard little from Ankalaev since his last fight at UFC 320, where Pereira stopped the champion in just 80 seconds to reclaim the light heavyweight belt after relinquishing it via unanimous decision in their first meeting at UFC 313.

Alex Pereira (red gloves) fights Magomed Ankalaev (blue gloves) during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ankalaev revealed after UFC 320 that he was carrying a rib injury into the rematch with Pereira, and ahead of UFC Abu Dhabi the 34-year-old spoke a bit more about his decision to enter that fight in a compromised state.

Magomed Ankalaev (red gloves) fights Alex Pereira (blue gloves) during UFC 320 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“It’s just that I had some specific health issues at the time,” Ankalaev told Mike Bohn. “I was advised by many not to even go out, to pull out of the fight, that they were gonna be able to move it for a later date. I decided that I was well enough to go on, and I decided not to listen to anybody. I made a mistake. As we know, sometimes you have to pay for your mistakes.”

Carlos Ulberg Won Vacant Light Heavyweight Belt at UFC 327

Pereira’s second reign with the UFC light heavyweight belt didn’t last long, as the Brazilian vacated the title ahead of an interim heavyweight title bout at the UFC White House event that saw Ciryl Gane stop “Poatan” with strikes in the second round.

Ciryl Gane (blue gloves) checks on Alex Pereira (red gloves) after their fight during the UFC Freedom 250 at the White House South Lawn. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Carlos Ulberg won the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 327 by defeating the division’s former champion Jiří Procházka but famously injured his knee during that fight, and Ankalaev knows that he’ll likely have to fight at least once more after UFC Abu Dhabi to get another title shot.

Carlos Ulberg (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Jiri Prochazka (red gloves) during UFC 327 at Kaseya Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“We’ve got a champion that’s probably gonna take a little while to come back, because he’s injured. For me, I would be interested in fighting somebody who maybe is in the Top 5, hopefully if the UFC offers somebody Top 5, that could be good. Or maybe some of the new guys that are coming up to the division that have bigger names, like [Paulo] Costa or [Robert] Whittaker…If we have to clean out the division once again, then we’ll do that.”

Bogdan Guskov Gets Massive Opportunity at UFC Abu Dhabi

Ankalaev was already preparing to fight down the rankings for his original matchup with the #6-ranked Rountree, but now Guskov has considerably more to gain at UFC Abu Dhabi given that he currently sits at #9 in the light heavyweight rankings.

After he was submitted by Volkan Oezdemir in his promotional debut in 2023, Guskov rebounded the following year with back-to-back knockouts of Zac Pauga and Ryan Spann that both earned him “Performances of the Night” bonuses.

Bogdan Guskov (red gloves) fights Billy Elekana (blue gloves) during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

“Hitman” scored two more finishes against Billy Elekana and Nikita Krylov before getting a major step up in competition against former light heavyweight titleholder Blachowicz at UFC 323, where the two men fough to a majority draw.

Ankalaev also fought to a draw with Blachowicz in a fight for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 282, but the UFC opted to go with a fresh matchup against Guskov instead of having the two former champions run things back at UFC Abu Dhabi.

Jan Blachowicz (red gloves) fights Magomed Ankalaev (blue gloves) during UFC 282 at T-Mobile Arena. | USA TODAY Sports

Aside from being stopped by Pereira in his last outing, the only other setback of the 34-year-old’s professional MMA career came when Paul Craig caught him in stunning last-second submission to spoil Ankalaev’s UFC debut in 2018.

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