Alex Pereira finished UFC 320 with the light heavyweight title back on his hip and a new injury.
All in all, it was a great night in Las Vegas for Pereira. He defeated Magomed Ankalaev by knockout in just 80 seconds, avenging his defeat at UFC 313 in March and reclaiming the championship belt from his rival. However, ‘Poitin’ revealed on Friday that he hurt his foot during the brief encounter, so fans may have to wait quite a while for his next match.
“I had X-rays in Las Vegas and an MRI here and it shows that my leg is fractured, but we don’t know yet what will happen and how long it will take to recover,” Pereira said during a Q&A in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ahead of Saturday’s UFC Rio tournament. “I think it’s good to focus on this White House (date). That’s interesting to me. I think I’ll focus on this.”
The UFC’s White House event is tentatively set for June 14, at least according to President Donald Trump’s recent announcement (UFC CEO Dana White has not yet confirmed the date). If Pereira is able to compete on that historic card, a number of options await him, including a possible legendary matchup with Jon Jones or the possibility of moving up to heavyweight to face Tom Aspinall, the division’s current champion.
Asked specifically about Jones, Pereira declined to commit to his opponent.
“I don’t know who’s going to be next,” Pereira said. “I’m focused on this fight.”
Pereira is no stranger to injury talk, and after his last loss to Ankalaev, there were rumors that Pereira was dealing with a virus and a broken hand in that fight (although Pereira has not acknowledged those specific issues, he has publicly hinted at issues affecting his performance at UFC 320).
Now, Ankalaev’s team will be at bat in Fighter’s place, sharing the news that the former champion suffered a broken rib before the rematch. Pereira said he was unaware of Ankalaev’s injury and said he believed most of the damage Ankalaev had sustained recently came from their second fight.
“I don’t know, but if it was already injured, it would have hurt more (in the elbow),” Pereira said. “There are no excuses. I had a lot of excuses I wanted to say, but I was waiting to say them when I had to fight again. I don’t know if they’re already giving me (excuses) to take away my accomplishments.”
After knocking Ankalaev down in the bout, Pereira delivered a downward elbow, specifically targeting Ankalaev’s midsection, en route to a first-round stoppage.
Even if it wasn’t part of a specific strategy, it’s definitely a technique that Pereira enjoyed utilizing.
“It was a great sensation,” Pereira said. “We train hard for it. We want to be there and do our best and be the best. I landed a clean punch before I hit the elbow and he grabbed my leg. I had an opening and the elbow fell clean. When I landed the first punch and saw the blood, I started to punch and the referee stopped it. But I think it could have been a little longer, because I promised to hit him in the face and I couldn’t do it.”
Guilherme Cruz contributed to this report.