Alex Pereira shuts down retirement talk, vows to return to UFC action soon

Alex Pereira will not be retiring despite claims from his recent foe.

Pereira last stepped inside the Octagon on March 8 for the main event of UFC 313. “Poatan” was hoping for a successful title defense against Magomed Ankalaev, but it wasn’t meant to be on that night. Ankalaev took the light heavyweight gold via unanimous decision.

A couple of months after the fight, a social media post on Pereira’s X account lashing out at the UFC turned plenty of heads. Pereira has since insisted his account was hacked. Ankalaev claimed what’s really going on is that Pereira is riding off into the sunset.

Not so fast, says “Poatan.”

RELATED: MAGOMED ANKALAEV MAKES BIG STATEMENT ABOUT ALEX PEREIRA’S UFC FUTURE

Alex Pereira Isn’t Done Fighting

UFC Brazil recently interviewed Alex Pereira, who made it clear that he intends to fight again in the near future (h/t MMAMania.com).

“We’ll definitely be talking about my next fight soon,” Pereira said through a translator. “I don’t have a specific date yet, but we already have an idea. I took this time off to rest, because I worked hard in 2024. I think my body got tired, I had some injuries, so I decided to take it easy, more on the recovery side, and now I’m coming back.”

“To come back [the right way]: firm and strong, to go after my belt again,” he concluded.

Whether the UFC books Pereira in a rematch against Magomed Ankalaev for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship remains to be seen. Some speculated that Pereira actually wasn’t hacked and his frustration might have been that he was skipped for the next title opportunity. Of course, that has not been confirmed at this time.

Pereira was riding a five-fight winning streak before running into Ankalaev. He had three successful light heavyweight title defenses. Stick with BJPenn.com for the latest updates on what’s next for Pereira and Ankalaev.