“It was a blast, but not easy when your opponent spends the whole fight running. My pressure was definitely my best weapon tonight, and I’m pretty damn happy with how it went.” Magomed Ankalaev dropped this on X after his dominant win over Alex Pereira at UFC 313. Remember the narrative going into the title fight! The Brazilian is perhaps the best striker in the promotion as of now, and if he could keep the fight on the feet, he was expected to blast the Dagestani and send him into the shadow realm. But what transpired was a 180-degree flip. It was Ankalaev who moved forward and was constantly pressing the Brazilian, and even caught him on the feet. And when it was all set and done, ‘Big Ank’ was the new 205lbs kingpin.

The win gave Ankalaev a huge confidence boost! And as promised, the Dagestani is already thinking about a potential rematch with ‘Poatan’ in August. With that second fight looking pretty much inevitable, ‘Big Ank’ has a question for the former light heavyweight champ, one that might sting his pride a bit. Apart from keeping the fight on the feet, there were some doubts about Pereira’s takedown defense and his lifestyle heading into the bout. Daniel Cormier, one of Pereira’s most vaunted supporters, pointed out his trip to Australia to corner Sean Strickland and attending concerts thereafter instead of starting his camp.

On the Good Guy / Bad Guy podcast, ‘DC’ didn’t hold back: “But what is Pereira still doing in Australia? He fights in two weeks! Ankalaev’s already here, he’s in Vegas, I ran into him at the UFC PI last week. He’s honestly so locked in, ready to win this fight against Alex Pereira.” And we all saw what went down in the UFC 313 main event. Ankalaev derailed Pereira, finally clinching the belt after falling short against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 282.

After the loss, ‘Poatan’ seemed pretty content and even promised in his post-fight comments that he would make the necessary adjustments for a comeback. But Ankalaev might have noticed something different. He recently took to ‘X’ and hit Pereira with a bold question about his fighting spirit. Big Ank wrote on X, “@AlexPereiraUFC, do you still like FIGHTING? I have a feeling you are done.”

Although Ankalaev didn’t elaborate on why he posted that, it’s not very hard to guess that it might be aimed at Pereira’s recent ventures. ‘Poatan’ recently made a trip to meet with the indigenous Pataxo tribe in Brazil, taking part in various rituals that sparked plenty of reactions from fans.

He also posted two comedy sketches, one with Instagram influencer Aurelie Garzonio and the other with his coach, Pilino Cruz. So, it’s not hard to see why the current 205lbs champ might be a bit livid, especially since it looks like the Brazilian might not be taking his fighting career seriously after that first loss.

‘Big Ank’ is clearly more than ready! He’s not missing a single chance to call out Pereira whenever he gets the mic or a moment online. He’s already called out ‘Poatan’ multiple times, and the intensity of his warnings has only gone up with time. Now, once again, he’s fired another shot at the former light heavyweight champ ahead of what feels like an inevitable rematch.

Magomed Ankalaev wants to bring a storm in the rematch with Alex Pereira

Ankalaev’s looking more than ready to run it back with Pereira—and honestly, why wouldn’t he be? Heading into UFC 313, everyone expected his wrestling to be the key to beating the former Glory kickboxing champ. But it wasn’t the takedowns that broke ‘Poatan’—it was the striking. Even though Pereira stuffed 12 takedown attempts, it was Ankalaev’s hands that told the real story. The Dagestani dropped him with a nasty shot in the second round. And even got the better of the exchanges in the third. Now, he’s promising an even more brutal version of himself in the rematch.

He posted on Instagram: “Alex, I am ready to give you a rematch, if you really want it. Just be prepared for a storm in the next fight, storm that you never faced in this sport. #bigANK” Since the fight, Ankalaev’s been turning up the heat with his callouts, and his jabs at Pereira are getting sharper by the day. The rematch might not be booked yet, but the tension is already building. And as of now, Pereira has stayed relatively quiet no response to any of Ankalaev’s callouts.

Maybe he’s waiting for the right moment. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s trying to figure out if he can weather that storm. So what do you think? Will ‘Poatan’ rise to the challenge, or is he in for another rough night under Ankalaev’s pressure? Please let us know your thoughts.