Alex Pereira refuses to take Magomed Ankalaev bait, says he’ll respond "when the time is right"

UFC light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev's repeated social media digs do not bother Alex Pereira. Pereira has declared that he will only respond to Ankalaev when the time is right.

Earlier this year, Ankalaev dethroned 'Poatan' via unanimous decision and snatched his 205-pound championship. Since then, a rematch has been suggested; however, no official date has been announced.

Ankalaev, who is now growing impatient as Pereira declined to fight him in the next three months, has revealed via his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, that he will wait until October. If 'Poatan' still doesn't want a rematch, the champion will fight someone else.

This weekend, Pereira was in attendance to witness UFC 316. Later, in an interview with UFC Brasil, the latter had this to say about Ankalaev’s recent posts.

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"He's promoting himself by saying my name. No one knows he's the champion, so when he says my name, he appears a little. But I'm not responding to his provocations, because I know it's just for promotion. I'll respond when the time is right."

Check out Alex Pereira's comments below:

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Magomed Ankalaev recently claimed that Alex Pereira "is done"

On June 1, Magomed Ankalaev posted on X that Alex Pereira would never come back. The Russian also claimed that he agreed to fight Pereira in June, July, and August, which 'Poatan' did not accept.

"Alex done he never coming back let’s move on June July August I said yes."

Check out Magomed Ankalaev's comments below:

Last month, Ankalaev also claimed that the UFC reached out to Pereira to fight him during International Fight Week. However, Pereira turned down the opportunity.

Ankalaev also revealed that former UFC champion Jiri Prochazka was offered the same opportunity. Prochazka declined mainly due to university exams and partially because he did not want to accept short-notice matchups anytime soon.

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Edited by Subham