MMA
Magomed Ankalaev admits he ignored teams pleas before Alex Pereira KO
Published
3 months agoon
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.â€
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an injury and has been replaced by Bogdan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.
Magomed
Ankalaev admits he “made a mistake” rematching Alex
Pereira with compromised health at UFC 320 and sees
#UFCAbuDhabi as his road back to gold.“If we have to clean out the division once again, then we’ll do
that.”(via @MikeBohn)
pic.twitter.com/mLyalGl4aK— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie)
July 22, 2026
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UFC Vegas 122: Start time, Paramount+ stream & full fight card
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Belal Muhammad shares nasty image of Brendan Allen’s staph infection prior to UFC Vegas 122 win
Published
9 hours agoon
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Brendan Allen was dealing with a lot more than high stakes ahead of his big main event bout this past Saturday in Las Vegas.
Allen faced fellow surging middleweight contender Christian Leroy Duncan in the UFC Vegas 122 headliner at the Meta APEX. In a back-and-forth battle, Allen was able to get the victory with a fifth-round rear-naked choke submission to earn his fourth straight win.
There were moments in the fight where Allen looked like he couldn't get out of first gear, and Allen's teammate and friend Belal Muhammad shared why that could've been — revealing Allen entered fight week with a gnarly staph infection and had to compete on antibiotics. Check out the image below, which was shown in the original Twitter post, but then switched out with a different photo.
“What people don't know is Brendan was dealing with a staph infection since Tuesday of fight week,†Muhammad wrote. “Had to get on antibiotics, still has 5 days left on them, and despite all that adversity, went out there and got the finish. Never complained, never made excuses, just found a way to win. That's the heart of a champion. Proud of my brother.â€
Allen called for a fight with former champion Dricus du Plessis following the victory. Duncan's five-fight win streak came to an end during his game showing in his first UFC headliner.
MMA
Andre Fili discusses not landing extra shots after epic UFC knockout: ‘I’m a criminal, but I’m not a piece of s***’
Published
17 hours agoon
October 11, 2026
Andre Fili knows where to draw the line.
On Saturday, Fili scored possibly the best knockout of his career, knocking out Kai Kamaka III with a head kick on the main card of UFC Vegas 122. The finish was brutal, putting Kamaka out before he even hit the canvas, but as he rushed forward to finish the fight, Fili pulled up before landing any follow-up shots, realizing Kamaka was unconscious.
At his post-fight press conference afterward, Fili expounded on the moment.
“I say this all the time: I'm a criminal, but I'm not a piece of shit,†Fili said. “I don't litter. I treat people with respect. And when I knock someone out, there's no reason to land that extra shot. He's got kids, he's got a wife, he's got a future outside of fighting. It's just not necessary, man. I hope he's OK. I didn't even really want to watch the replay back.
“Hurting people is part of the sport. I like being good at fighting. I like winning fights. I like getting paid to win fights. I like being on TV. Hurting people is a byproduct of that; it's not a driving force for me. So I'm not gonna land that extra shot.â€
Widely seen as one of the “good guys†of MMA, Fili has been a UFC veteran since 2013, and seemed to be getting emotional during his post-fight scrum. When asked about why, Fili explained.
“I poured everything I am, and everything I have into this performance, and I just really — I'm not scared of anybody in that cage,†Fili said. “Any apprehension or nerves or excitement or butterflies, it's all because I want to perform. I want to make my people proud, I want to make myself proud. I want to perform the way I know I can perform. And when it works out that way, it feels really good.
“And now I'm making enough money to where I can change the trajectory of my entire family. I come from violence and drug abuse and poverty. I live below the poverty line in America, which I know is different from being in some of these other countries, but it's below the poverty line nonetheless, and I'm here to break some generational curses. This shit's hard work.â€
UFC Vegas 122: Start time, Paramount+ stream & full fight card
Belal Muhammad shares nasty image of Brendan Allen’s staph infection prior to UFC Vegas 122 win
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UFC Vegas 122: Start time, Paramount+ stream & full fight card
Belal Muhammad shares nasty image of Brendan Allen’s staph infection prior to UFC Vegas 122 win
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