“Champs don’t fight usually as regularly as what Pereira did.” Michael Bisping was pretty clear on how active Alex Pereira has been ever since he moved to the LHW division. He fought thrice in 2024 and won all of his fights in the year. And despite being dominated by Magomed Ankalev at UFC 313, ‘Poatan’ has agreed to fight once again against the Russian light heavyweight champion. But as he did so, he made sure to let the world in on a secret. 

On 20 March 2025, the current light heavyweight champion’s X account put forth a tweet regarding a rematch against Pereria. The tweet read, “I have a date and I accepted already, I hope my opponent will accept too. This time there will be no 5 rounds, I don’t get paid by the hour #BigANK.” But the man with the hands of stone was ready for action. He took to Instagram Story to send a reply to the Russian champ and wrote, “Let’s go Ali. Chama.”

And if you’re thinking that Pereira probably mistook Ankalaev for Khabib Nurmagomedov and the LHW champ’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, then you’re in for a big surprise. The Brazilian knew it pretty well that it was Abdelaziz who managed Ankalaev’s social media account. Back in 2024, Ankalaev confirmed that the Egyptian MMA manager was the one who writes things up on his social media. That’s because Ankalaev isn’t fluent in English. He said, “He writes on social media, but we discuss everything—he doesn’t post anything without my knowledge. To secure fights and avoid being overlooked, we have to speak out. I’m aware of everything that’s happening, but since I don’t speak English, he does the writing.”

As the talks of a rematch between Alex Pereira and Ankalaev engulfed the world of mixed martial arts, the fighting community also began speculating if ‘Poatan’ could manage to secure a win against the Russian in the rematch. Let’s see what Jamahall Hill and ‘The Count’ had to say about the rematch. 

UFC veterans weigh in on Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev 2

During a recent interview with Home of Fight’s James Lynch, ‘Sweet Dreams’ talked about the changes that Pereira could bring in for a rematch against the Russian champion. Hill said, “I think he can, I think he’s very capable of making the adjustments that he needs to make to win that fight. He’s going to have to be locked into the gym to where he don’t get tired. He’s going to have to up his cardio a lot because his output is going to have to go up.”

Of course, if we take a look at the main event at UFC 313, it was pretty clear that Pereira was doing everything in his power to avoid Ankalaev’s takedowns. And that’s indeed a spot where the Brazilian needs to work on. Well, the Brazilian MMA star does have a lot of time to rest and prepare a better strategy for the rematch. According to Michael Bisping, Pereira has around 7 months to bounce back against Ankalaev. 

But Bisping wasn’t putting out the chances of Pereira losing once again. However, a second defeat against Ankalaev wouldn’t really mean the end of his career. ‘The Count’ believed that ‘Poatan’ would continue to make PPV appearances and have main event fights. After all, the Brazilian wouldn’t cease to be a major attention grabber anytime soon. But first, we’ll have to wait and watch how the rematch proceeds. 

What are your thoughts on Abdelaziz managing Ankalaev’s social media accounts? Do you think Pereira can win against Ankalaev in a rematch? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.