“Training camp’s finished. I’m ready for war. Saturday night, I will change this guy’s face @UFC 313. I’m coming for a finish from the first minute,” declared Magomed Ankalaev, sending a fierce warning to Alex Pereira ahead of their highly anticipated clash at UFC 313. The Dagestani powerhouse will be the first Muslim fighter stepping into the Octagon for a title fight during the holy month of Ramadan. While the risks are undeniably high, the reward is just as tempting. Yet, despite the physical toll of fasting, Ankalaev remains unfazed, refusing to see it as a disadvantage against the reigning champion. In the meantime, ‘Poatan’ has come forward to give his opponent a piece of warning.

In the UFC 313 countdown video, Magomed Ankalaev highlighted that Alex Pereira is counting on him to be weak because of the Ramadan fasting. But the Russian is steadfast, and said, “For us as fighters, faith is higher than anything else… Ramadan is a sacred month for Muslims. It is believed that in the month of Ramadan, the almighty forgives his servants. During this month, we Muslims are obligated to fast, and Alex knows that. He thinks he has a chance to beat me, but I think we will prove the opposite. This challenge makes me stronger.”

Magomed Ankalaev is locked in on his stance against the light-heavyweight champion. However, is Alex Pereira at all worried about these warnings? Well, it is quite the opposite for him as the champion has come forward to upload a picture of him on his Instagram story with a worded warning for the Dagestani – “Ready to kill.”

“Pronto pra matar,” he wrote. Some of you might remember these words from another historic Periera moment. At UFC 281, before the last round of the title fight against Israel Adesanya, Pereira was caught muttering the same to himself. Fans on the internet juxtaposed this moment with Israel Adesanya saying “I’m prepared to die” during the Kelvin Gastelum fight at UFC 236. This shows the difference in mindset between the two fighters. That is not to say Adesanya is lesser than his former rival. The aforementioned interim title fight will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame class of 2025, and ‘Izzy’ knocked out Pereira in their rematch.

As for Pereira, there were concerns about his preparedness for the bout, and what could be his toughest challenge to date. His social media activities had him doing very little training and more attending other events – such as a Drake concert and cornering Sean Strickland at UFC 312. But he soon brushed off those doubts from the likes of Daniel Cormier and shared footage of his training drills. Most importantly, his strength of schedule might be his biggest asset.

If we consider the dynamics of the game, Alex Pereira has faced and finished higher-level opponents. The reigning champion holds victories over elite fighters like Israel Adesanya, Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and others. After winning the belt at UFC 295 in November 2023 Pereira fought three times in 2024 – April (UFC 300), June (UFC 303), and October (UFC 307). If he wins at UFC 313, he’ll be the first fighter to defend the LHW title four times in less than twelve months – a feat no one has done in over 10 years, and not since Jon Jones did it more than ten years ago. (between September 2011 and September 2012).

In contrast, Magomed Ankalaev’s most notable wins are against Johnny Walker, Aleksandar Rakić, and Anthony Smith. Fighting in the Holy month of Ramadan will for sure prove to be challenging for Ankalaev because Pereira is not someone who is to be underestimated.

Many assume that the UFC coerced Magomed Ankalaev into taking the fight, considering Alex Pereira’s desire to compete before Ramadan. This has led the Dagestani to feel that the UFC is being quite disrespectful toward him.

Magomed Ankalaev believes UFC favors Alex Pereira over him

Fighting during the holy month of Ramadan presents its challenges, one of which is the lack of energy required to compete inside the Octagon against the best in the division. Magomed Ankalaev was the one to constantly call out the light-heavyweight champion for a fight for months and Dana White did agree to give him a fight but at the worst possible time. Along with Ankalaev, many within the community raised their doubts over whether the UFC made a calculated move to give Alex Pereira the maximum possible advantage against his toughest stylistic opponent to date.

While having a conversation with the media, the host asked the UFC light-heavyweight title challenger, “Do you think the UFC appreciates you? And were you frustrated by having to fight so many times before getting a title shot? Responding to the question, the Dagestani emphasized that he doesn’t believe that the UFC values his existence as the number one contender: “I don’t know if they appreciate me yet, but after this fight, they will…You know, it’s not a good thing to fight in Ramadan.”

There are two sides to the story, this would be Magomed Ankalaev’s second chance to fight for the title. What about the first, you ask? Well, the Dagestani tried to test his skills against former champ, Jan Blachowicz at UFC 282 but the fight ended in a draw. Ankalaev’s style is dominant but not as exciting as Pereira’s. His last fight against Rakic (while the lower-ranked Khalil Rountree Jr. fought for the title) was supposedly the UFC asking him to show he could get the audience out of their seats.

Pereira has been selling out PPVs ever since he first won a belt at UFC 281. Surely, it makes sense for the UFC to have a fighter with this level of activity, fan following, and charisma holding the belt in a division that lacked any excitement since Jon Jones left. Given that, the UFC CEO has given Ankalaev a second chance to redeem his title, will he be able to capitalize?