Alex Pereira Afraid of Dagestani Grappling as Magomed Ankalaev’s Snub for Jiri Prochazka Title Shot Triggers Fans – “UFC Shouldn’t Make Him Duck”

Alex Pereira has the fighting community enraged. Right after the events of UFC 302, Pereira confirmed that his next opponent would be the light heavyweight star, Jiri Prochazka. ‘Poatan’ has revealed that he might fight Prochazka somewhere in August. Although Pereira was pretty interested in having the rematch, the fans wanted him to take on Magomed Ankalaev.

It wasn’t the first time when the netizens speculated a fight between Pereira and Ankalaev. Following his massive first-round knockout victory against Jamahall Hill at UFC 300, the Russian light heavyweight contender called out ‘Poatan’ for a fight on the annual Abu Dhabi PPV. Without a doubt, the fighter had eyes on the LHW championship belt. While the callout had the entire UFC world excited, the Brazilian rejected the call. 

Pereira tried to justify his rejection based on the fact that he wanted to fight much before the year ended. Unfortunately, Pereira didn’t feel like Ankalaev would be ready by then. Even though he appeared to be ready to fight whoever the UFC proposed, he wanted a date that suited him best. 

Now, Pereira, in a conversation with Aaron Bronsteter, revealed that it was Prochazka who would be his next opponent. Furthermore, the light heavyweight champion disclosed his desire to fight in August. He said, “Whoever they want me to fight [I’ll fight], but the name that’s on the table right now is Jiri Prochazka… We’re still in talks, I would like to fight around August but nothing concrete yet.” After defeating Prochazka, back in UFC 295, with a finisher in the second round, ‘Poatan’ wanted a rematch. But the fans were not happy with the call.

The Brazilian fighter’s words were recently shared on X. As soon as Pereira’s desire came across the social media platform, the fight fans took over the comments section with their opinion. Here is what the fans had to say.

Fans react to Alex Pereira snubbing Magomed Ankalaev to fight Jiri Prochazka

Fight fans didn’t spare a moment and began sharing their thoughts in the comments section. Without a doubt, the fighting community wasn’t happy with Pereira apparently ducking the fight against Ankalaev. One of the fans claimed that the UFC should not let Pereira duck Ankalaev anymore. 

Another fan claimed to be a huge fan of the Brazilian mixed martial artist. However, he refused to call him the greatest fighter if he didn’t take up a fight against the Russian.

One of the fans commented that Pereira was simply “Dodging ankalaev”, while another fan wrote, “Ducking is the worst thing that fighter can do.” Without a doubt, the fanbase wanted nothing but Pereira to fight Ankalaev. Some of the fans even claimed that it would be a much better matchup than Pereira vs. Prochazka.

One of the fans questioned the reason behind Pereira choosing an opponent that he had already defeated with a knockout. On top of that, it has only been a few months since the two previously fought at UFC 295.

Another fan speculated that the Brazilian simply didn’t like the way Ankalaev asked for the fight in Abu Dhabi.

The fans also talked about how Pereira hadn’t faced a grappler yet. “Dude is gonna 15 fights into the UFC without facing a single grappler,” read one of the comments. While another account seemed pretty interested in knowing how the ‘Poatan’ would fare against a Russian wrestler.

Nevertheless, some of the fans were also excited to have Pereira return to the Octagon and fight Prochazka. “Excited for the rematch after watching Jiri stop Rakic, but Jiri fights with his hands too low, Alex is going to put him to sleep again,” wrote a fan.

What do you think of Pereira’s demand to fight Prochazka in August? Do you think the fight will materialize? Or are you in support of Pereira vs. Ankalaev? Let us know in the comments down below.