Alex Pereira has responded after being accused of cheating by the man who ended his light heavyweight reign at UFC 313 earlier this month.
Pereira’s perfect start to life at 205 pounds came to an emphatic halt inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on March 8, where Magomed Ankalaev made good on his promise to dethrone “Poatan.”
Despite earning a unanimous decision victory to capture the title, Ankalaev wasn’t entirely happy in the aftermath.
While he ultimately didn’t need successful takedowns to get the win, the Russian was still bothered by Pereira’s ability to withstand the wrestling, which his team believes derived from some form of slippery substance rather than skill.
During an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned, Pereira had his chance to respond to that claim. Suffice it to say, he rejected any suggestion that he sought an illegal advantage on fight night.
“I absolutely didn’t put anything on my body. For me, that’s him trying to make an excuse to justify the fact that he trained a guy to take me down, but the guy got stuffed for 12 of his takedown attempts,” Alex Pereira said. “You didn’t do what you’re supposed to do, and now you’re trying to make excuses to justify that.”
Pereira will hope to showcase similar strength in the takedown defense department should his expected rematch with Ankalaev come to fruition later this year. Second time around, though, he’ll look to pair his usual striking dominance with it.
