Since Ankalaev bested Pereira, animosity has been bubbling over both online and in various vlogs Pereira posted on his YouTube channel. Perhaps part of that is just the tension that comes with having the same guy on your mind for nearly a year, but it also just seems like Pereira doesn’t exactly enjoy the way Ankalaev goes about his business.
Of course, that’s the wonderful thing about the fight game: the guys can settle any beef soon enough. This tie with Ankalaev differs a bit from his saga with Adesanya, who he faced four times across two sports over the course of nearly 10 years. He and the former middleweight champ buried the hatchet since their last fight, so that could always happen for him and Ankalaev, but that’s business to consider after October 4. Right now, Pereira is locked in on becoming the first man in seven years to beat Ankalaev, and that’s what is driving him the most.
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“It’s not even the rivalry that motivates me,” Pereira said. “That keeps me going, but I think it’s just the confidence of everything going on, everything I put for this fight, but I definitely can call this a rivalry different than the other ones.”
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