- Alex Pereira is still feeling pain in his hand from an injury he incurred at UFC 307
- Magmoed Ankalaev mocked “Poatan” on social media
- The Brazilian visited his tribe back in his home soil
Alex Pereira has opened up about a hand injury he suffered from UFC 307 which could prevent him from headlining UFC 310.
Alex hurt his hand by hitting Khalil
Speaking to Podpah podcast, “Poatan” made a shocking admission regarding his current status. According to Pereira, he injured his hand by constantly hitting Khalil Rountree at UFC 307. In fact, the hand is still aching to this day.
“That fourth round, I was throwing jabs and hurting my hand,” Pereira said. “I swear. I was thinking, ‘My hand must be broken.’ Even today, it still hurts. Not all the time, no, but if I squeeze here, it hurts. I saw that the jabs were working and thought, ‘I have to hurt him. But then I hit him right there in the [forehead], one of the hardest parts [of the body], and it kept hurting [laughs].”
Alex Pereira says his hand still hurts from hitting Khalil Rountree
“In that 4th round, I was throwing jabs and it was hurting my hand man, I swear. I was thinking ‘my hand must be broken’.
It still hurts today.”
🎥 @Podpah #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/b3CBEKnZMv
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 3, 2024
Ankalaev takes dig at Alex
After Belal Muhammad was forced to pull out of UFC 310 due to an injury, Pereira is believed to be considered to replace the welterweight champ and face Magomed Ankalaev for his next title defense. However, with “Poatan” coming clean about his hand injury, he might not be able to do so.
Meanwhile, Ankalaev decided to troll Pereira ahead of their potential light heavyweight title fight. In a social media post, Ankalaev made an effort to compile Pereira’s previous losses and mock the reigning light heavyweight champ.
“[Alex] lost 10 times when I beat him. This is gonna be something very normal for him… he knows how to give up,” Ankalaev wrote.
Magomed Ankalaev posted a compilation of Alex Pereira’s losses and calls him a “good loser” 😬
“[Alex] lost 10 times when I beat him. This is gonna be something very normal for him… he knows how to give up.”#UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/2RRJ5cT7Fm
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 4, 2024
Alex visited his tribe
While on break, Pereira also visited his tribe back in Brazil. Clips of him performing some tribal rituals are now making rounds on social media.
Check out the clip below:
UFC champ Alex Pereira shot his bow and arrow today while back in Brazil visiting his tribe 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7pBo7raLaI
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) November 3, 2024
As it stands, Pereira has now defended his light heavyweight title three times. He remains open to facing anybody at this point but admittedly, he plans to move up to heavyweight and compete for the title as well.
