Joe Rogan recently claimed that Alex Pereira’s recent light-heavyweight title loss to Magomed Ankalaev may partly have been influenced by the fact that he had injuries and ailments leading into the UFC 313 main event.
“They say [Pereira] fought with a broken hand and norovirus against Ankalaev,” Rogan said on his podcast.
Pereira has since responded to that during an interview with Ariel Helwani, though he stopped short of explaining the true extent of his issues and suggested he would only do so once he had won the belt back.
“I’m not trying to take credit away from Ankalaev,” Pereira said on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’ via an interpreter. “Many people try to do that kind of thing, and I’m not this type of guy. Everybody goes through problems, and I’m sure he had his own problems, too. I had mine.
“My hand is fine, but it did affect things. But I don’t want to use that as an excuse. I don’t want to make excuses. I don’t want to use this as leverage for anything.
“My moment is going to come to win the belt, and then I can disclose everything for you guys. Yes, (I considered not fighting at UFC 313). It was one of the more complicated (fight camps) from everything that happened. I don’t regret it because I’ve conquered a lot, I’ve motivated a lot of people and anytime I’ve pushed through things, I was able to overcome. Many times it worked, but this time it wasn’t my moment.”
It’s widely expected that Pereira will now head into a rematch with Ankalaev next, though it’s not yet official.
