Magomed Ankalaev has mainly accused Alex Pereira of lying about their run‑in at the UFC Performance Institute and of making excuses about not being 100% in their first fight.

What Ankalaev Said About Pereira

  • Ankalaev has said that Pereira is “making excuses” about their first fight, especially Pereira’s claim that he was only around 40% healthy. He’s insisted he wants to beat the “100%” version of Pereira to prove the result was no fluke.
  • He has pushed back on Pereira’s viral story that he was “hiding” from him at the UFC PI, saying that the situation was being twisted and that Pereira was talking too much and creating unnecessary drama.
  • Ankalaev has framed the whole thing as psychological warfare, saying he is now angry about how Pereira portrayed the encounter and that all the talking will not matter once they step into the cage again.

UFC PI “Hiding” Incident

  • Pereira publicly claimed that Ankalaev waited in his car until Pereira left the UFC Performance Institute and then went inside, calling him a “chump” and a bad champion.
  • Ankalaev’s side is that their training times overlapped, that he did nothing cowardly, and that Pereira’s version makes it sound like he was afraid when he says it was just a scheduling situation being blown up for hype.

Tone And Trash Talk

  • Ankalaev has expressed surprise that Pereira is talking so much, since Pereira previously had the image of a quiet “silent killer” and not a heavy trash‑talker.
  • In at least one reported confrontation, Ankalaev challenged Pereira directly, telling him that his words are empty and that everything will be decided in the octagon, emphasizing that he wants to settle things with actions, not talk.

Why This Is A Big Deal Now

  • Their rivalry escalated ahead of the UFC 320 rematch for the light heavyweight title, with the PI incident and health excuses becoming central talking points in media and fan discussions.
  • Ankalaev is using Pereira’s comments as motivation, framing the rematch as his chance to prove that the first result was the way it was “supposed” to happen and to shut down Pereira’s narrative about injuries and “hiding.”

TL;DR: Ankalaev says Pereira lied about him “hiding” at the UFC PI, talks too much, and is making excuses about being only 40% in their first fight; he wants to face a fully healthy Pereira to prove his dominance in the rematch.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.