Alex Pereira is not afraid of Magomed Ankalaev’s ground game.
UFC light heavyweight champion Pereira (10-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) is targeting a return in summer, and expects to run things back with Jiri Prochazka next. Pereira knocked out Prochazka to claim the vacant 205-pound title at UFC 295 – a stoppage Prochazka argued was too early.
Pereira has since defend his title once by knocking out Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 in April. On the same night, Prochazka (30-4-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) rebounded with a knockout of his own against Aleksandar Rakic.
“I’m not the guy to call names. I’m not the guy to pick the fight,” Pereira told Sportsnet through an interpreter. “(I’ll fight) whoever (the UFC) want me to fight, but the name that’s on the table right now is Jiri Prochazka. We’re still in negotiations. I would like to fight around August, but nothing concrete yet.”
Although Prochazka appears to be on Pereira’s radar first, “Poatan” wouldn’t shy away from fighting Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC), who many see as his toughest test in the division.
Ankalaev is unbeaten in his past 12 fights, most recently scoring a Performance of the Night knockout of Johnny Walker in January.
“Everybody talks about Ankalaev, talks about his ground, but they don’t know my ground,” Pereira said. “It’s not even to show (my ground game). (I) just go with the flow. But I’d like to show some time.”
