UFC: Ankalaev challenges Pereira to trilogy bout

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Magomed Ankalaev wants Alex Pereira to return to the light heavyweight division for a possible Ultimate Fighting Championship trilogy bout.

With the head-to-head matchup still deadlocked at 1-1, the Russian mixed martial artist hopes Pereira will return to his natural weight class, especially after a harsh reality check in his heavyweight debut.

During the co-main event of UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, 2026, Pereira suffered an unexpected second-round technical knockout loss to Ciryl Gane.

However, Pereira accused Gane of landing illegal blows that helped him win the fight and clinch the interim heavyweight title.

Gane handed Pereira one of his worst UFC losses, scoring a decisive technical knockout with a barrage of hammer fists followed by a vicious left hook.

According to Pereira, Gane hit him several times illegally in the back of the head, forcing him to stay on the back foot as he tried to regain his senses.

Pereira also criticized Herb Dean, the fight’s referee, questioning why the veteran UFC official did not intervene or warn Gane.

Before turning his focus to luring Pereira back, Ankalaev still has a task at hand against Bogdan Guskov on July 25, 2026.

During their first encounter, Ankalaev beat Pereira by unanimous decision, 49-46, 48-47, 48-47, on March 8, 2025.

Seven months later, Pereira got back at Ankalaev, scoring a first-round stoppage at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to reclaim the light heavyweight belt.

“It’s for him to decide, but if it were up to me, I would love for him to come back down to his division so we can have our rubber match,” Ankalaev said.