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Magomed Ankalaev ignored his team's calls for him to pull out of the Alex Pereira rematch.
Ankalaev won the Ultimate Fighting Championship 205-pound title against Pereira in their first matchup at UFC 313 in March 2025 in dominant fashion. The Russian then put his title on the line against Pereira in their immediate rematch at UFC 320 in October. "Poatan" knocked out Ankalaev in just 80 seconds to reclaim his strap.
The Russian has now divulged the obstacles he overcame ahead of the rematch.
Magomed Ankalaev says health issues led his team to urge him to withdraw from UFC 320 against Alex Pereira
Ankalaev's team and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, claimed that he was not fully fit going into the rematch against Pereira. Abdelaziz said that Ankalaev had decided to go ahead with the fight despite being advised otherwise by his team.
Ankalaev recently admitted that he was dealing with health issues going into UFC 320. The former light heavyweight champion also reveals that he ignored his advisors when they told him that the fight could be postponed if he pulled out. Ankalaev paid the price for his mistake and doesn't want to relive the memory.
"I had some specific health issues at the time, and I was advised by many not to even go out, to pull out of the fight, that they were gonna move it to a later date," Ankalaev told MMA Junkie. "I decided that I was well enough to go on; I decided not to listen to anybody. I made a mistake, and sometimes you have to pay for your mistake. This has been a long time… I would rather not revisit it if we can."
Ankalaev (20-2) was scheduled to return to action against Khalil Rountree at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25. However, Rountree pulled out due to an injury and has been replaced by Bogdan Guskov (18-3) on 14 days' notice.
