Alex Pereira Focused on Making First UFC LHW Title Defense Against Jamahal Hill

While Magomed Ankalaev staked his claim to a light heavyweight title shot with a knockout victory on Saturday night, reigning champ Alex Pereira appears to have other plans.

In a post on his Instagram account, “Poatan” targeted Jamahal Hill for his first title defense. Hill claimed the belt with a victory against Pereira mentor Glover Teixeira in January 2023 but had to vacate the title after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon in a pickup basketball game this past summer. It is unclear when Hill might be cleared to compete again.

“People, let’s focus on what matters, which is Jamahal,” Pereira wrote in Portuguese, “and then I’ll focus on breaking another record and doing two title defenses in the least amount of time.”

Pereira appears to be alluding to the record for shortest time between title defense, which is held by Ronda Rousey. The Olympic judoka submitted Miesha Tate at UFC 168 and returned 56 days later for a stoppage win over Sara McMann at UFC 170.

After a second-round KO of Johnny Walker at UFC Fight Night 234, Ankalaev wasted little time calling for a showdown with Pereira. Ankalaev is unbeaten in his last 13 Octagon appearances.

“I think here the math works out, the way that I’m more deserving of the belt because I have 10 victories, six of them knockouts, and Jamahal Hill has eight fights total in the UFC,” Ankalaev said at the post-fight press conference. “So it’s just clear that I’m a more deserving contender than Jamahal Hill.

“..“So if I get to fight against Pereira, I think we’re going to have a great fight,” he added. “It’s going to be a firefight, it’s going to be an exciting fight, and we’re going to do our job and I’m going to get my title back because I’m already feeling like a champion.”

After capturing UFC gold at middleweight, Pereira moved to 205 pounds at UFC 291, where he took a split verdict against Jan Blachowicz this past July. He then defeated Jiri Prochazka via second-round TKO at UFC 295 to claim the vacant light heavyweight belt. The former two-division Glory kickboxing champion doesn’t have a date set for his next title defense.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alex "Poatan" Pereira (@alexpoatanpereira)