Alex Pereira, UFC 320

Alex Pereira's disdain for Magomed Ankalaev has seemingly turned up a notch ahead of their UFC 320 rematch.

Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) claims that he nearly crossed paths with Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) on Tuesday at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, less than three weeks ahead of their scheduled light heavyweight title rematch on Oct. 4 at T-Mobile Arena (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).

They never encountered each other for real, but the way Pereira experienced it, it was all intentional. He claims Ankalaev intentionally avoided him, and in his mind, that's a massive sign of cowardice in the role of titleholder.

"Something funny happened just now when I was leaving the PI," Pereira said on his YouTube channel (H/T: Championship Rounds). "I saw Ankalaev's coach there. I stayed to myself, I didn't see Ankalaev there. And the funny thing is, when I left the PI, when I got into my car, someone from my team was still inside and he heard the girl from the PI say to Ankalaev, 'He can come now, he's already left.' Like damn, he was hiding. They hid the guy in a little room man. The guy thinks I'm going to run into him and start fighting. Do I look stupid, bro?

"This guy talks nonsense. I hadn't even seen (his posts on X), for real. Honestly I would've handled it way better. But the fact that the guy hides in a room because I'm in the same place as him. He's a chump. He's a chump. I'll keep to myself, you know? I'll never pick a fight with the guy, never start something. Of course, unless he comes at me. I have to defend myself too. But what kind of champion is that man? A sh*t champion. I know that's harsh, but he's a sh*tty champion, man. A guy like that. And you know why? Not because of what he says, but hiding in a room today. He's shown he's a coward man. We'll see. Hiding now. We'll be in the cage, locked in there. Unless he jumps the fence. He's a sh*tty champion, this guy."

Pereira will get an opportunity to reclaim the 205-pound belt at UFC 320. He suffered a unanimous decision loss to Ankalaev in their first meeting at UFC 313 in March.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alex Pereira claims 'sh*t champ' Magomed Ankalaev avoided him at UFC PI: 'He's a chump'

Reporting by Mike Bohn, MMA Junkie / MMA Junkie

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