Magomed Ankalaev ranked #2 in light heavyweight, missed out on becoming champion by a whisker at his 205-pound title bout against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 282. Their bout went the distance and was ultimately adjudged a draw on the judges’ scorecard. Now, the former middleweight champion, Alex Pereira is the reigning 205-pound king as he defeated Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295. However, it seems that Ankalaev will soon have another shot at the title if Pereira’s recent remarks are any indication.

Alex Pereira wants to test his grappling against Magomed Ankalaev

Alex Pereira comes from a kickboxing background. A former (and only) concurrent two-division Glory FC kickboxing champion, the Brazilian has an eraser, a devastating left hand, that has made up for his lack of a ground game even in the UFC. It has propelled him to two-division status in only seven fights in the world’s toughest, most competitive MMA promotion. But he has also improved a lot on the ground over the past year, having earned his black belt in BJJ earlier this year.

And the champion is eager to show off his newly acquired grappling skills. In a conversation with Stake.com, the light heavyweight champion says he wants to face Magomed Ankalaev to ‘test’ how good his ground game is.

“Magomed Ankalaev is a guy I would like to test myself against. A lot of people talk about that match-up and say that he will submit me really quickly. I would like to shut a lot of those people up and show a lot of my ground game as well. It won’t be an easy fight, but it will be a very interesting fight,” Pereira said.

The last time Pereira faced a grappler was his UFC 291 clash against Jan Blachowicz. It was perhaps the least impressive of all his wins in the UFC so far. The Brazilian seemed utterly outclassed on the ground by the brawny Pole. But, it seems Pereira has learned his lesson.

Another indication of Pereira’s confidence was evident when he issued a generous challenge to light heavyweight star Anthony Smith, who had strongly criticized ‘Poatan’s lack of ground game.

‘Poatan’ issues $50k grappling challenge to ‘Lionheart’

Before his UFC 301 clash against Vitor Petrino in May, Anthony Smith had criticized Alex Pereira for being ‘one-dimensional’, saying that while ‘Poatan’ was “very dangerous at one thing” (striking), he was “mediocre at the rest.” 

After being called out by ‘Lionheart’ for purportedly having a “very limited skill set,” Pereira issued a unique challenge to the American. He offered to face Smith in a grappling match, with very generous terms. Smith would be allowed to start with his hooks in Pereira and be given five minutes to submit the Brazilian. And if ‘Lionheart’ succeeds in achieving this, he would get $50k from Pereira.

On the other hand, if Smith couldn’t submit him within the stipulated five minutes, ‘Lionheart’ would have to pay Pereira the same amount of money. The American has readily and enthusiastically agreed to it, promising to “choke the sh** out of” the reigning 205-pound king.

Pereira and Smith are fighting on the UFC 303 card on June 29. If they both win their bouts, that would take them one step closer to fighting each other. However, if ‘Poatan’ defeats Jiri Prochazka again at the T-Mobile Arena, Ankalaev will probably be his next opponent.