Has Magomed Ankalaev accepted Alex Pereira’s $200,000 challenge at UFC 314? The question remains unanswered—but not unaddressed. The Russian fighter recently took to X to respond. Want to know more? Stay tuned, as we’re back with another episode of MMA Roundup, where we break down the latest updates into bite-sized pieces!

From Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev, We will move forward to Leon Edwards, who has his reasons for not being the replacement for Belal Muhammad at UFC 315. Finally, we will end our montage with a piece of information about Dana White and the Apex. So, without any further ado, let’s get cracking!

Magomed Ankalaev responds to Alex Pereira’s challenge

As they prepare to face each other at UFC 314, Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev remain focused on securing victory. Amidst their ongoing back-and-forth, ‘Poatan’ has issued a bold challenge to the Russian fighter: “I’m betting $200,000 to donate to children in need—specifically, children with cancer. Many people need this help. Since Ali and Ankalaev seem to be 100 percent confident they will beat me, I believe they will accept this challenge.”

Alex Pereira emphasized that if he loses the fight, he will donate the sum to a recognized hospital or association and urged Ankalaev to do the same. Well, has Ankalaev accepted the proposition? The light-heavyweight title contender took to his X handle to respond to Pereira, “SalamuAlaykum we will answer tomorrow.”

Two hundred thousand dollars is not a small sum of money and it must be noted that it is very close to the base pay for Ankalaev. If he loses the fight then the fighter has to relinquish his payday as well. He may or may not accept it but one thing is certain and that’s the fact that Ankalaev’s self-confidence is at the test right now. Let us move forward to Leon Edwards and his preparation for UFC London.

Leon Edwards explains why he didn’t replace Shavkat Rakhmonov

When Shavkat Rakhmonov could not accept the UFC 315 opportunity due to injury, Leon Edwards seemed best positioned to fight Muhammad at UFC 315 and take his revenge. However, Edwards’ hands were tied, as the entire UFC London event was built around his hype. The conclusion? Edwards’ opponent, Jack Della Maddalena, was picked to fight for the title and the UFC rebooked the former welterweight champion against Sean Brady.

While speaking with the media, ‘Rocky’ emphasized that he does not want to disappoint his own people, saying, “Probably a couple of weeks before, I talked to the UFC. I was trying to step in [as Rakhmonov’s replacement] to fight Belal [at UFC 315]. But I knew [learnt] that they had sold London [promoted the UFC London card] around me. So it was difficult to take me off the card as it would be weird of Jack to headline the London card.”

He further added, “I talked to the UFC, they told me that after this win – this [his next fight against Brady] is a No. 1 contender fight – whoever wins it fights for the title. When I win this, I’ll fight for the title. That’s my aim.” Leon Edwards was one of the most dominant champions of his time and he certainly deserves the title but before that, he would like to test himself.

Hyder Amil calls for help from the community for a better audience

With a career record of 11 victories and 0 losses, Hyder Amil has been a dominant force within the featherweight division. However, despite back-to-back victories, ‘The Hurricane’ is yet to fight under a better card. Confined to the Apex arena, Amil is quite frustrated that he has not been given an opportunity to perform in front of a bigger crowd.

In his latest confession at the UFC Vegas 103 post-fight press conference, the fighter has called out to the UFC CEO Dana White to allow him to face better opponents as well as fight in front of a bigger crowd, “My fights are way too exciting for the Apex. If my last fight had been in an arena, the roof would go off. Please put me infornt of a crowd.”

The Apex was also under bad limelight after the UFC aired Dominick Cruz’s retirement announcement package during this past weekend’s card. Many fans on the internet argued they should have done it during UFC 313 this weekend. And on a note similar to Amil’s, veteran MMA reporter Ariel Helwani wrote on X, “You know who deserves better than the Apex? The active fighters who have busted their a– to make it to the top of the sport. Disgraceful that they are still holding events there… Contender series? TUF? Perfect… Fight Nights? C’mon. Enough already.”

The UFC CEO previously emphasized that the promotion would gradually move away from the Apex arena, and while that transition has been underway, it now seems the pace will need to accelerate.