When Belal Muhammad was announced to have withdrawn from his upcoming welterweight title defense at UFC 310, everyone had the same thought. If the UFC needed someone to step in and save the main event, there was only one name they could call.
The biggest argument for Alex Pereira being the 2024 fighter of the year is that he has stepped up and delivered for the UFC when they needed him most on several occasions. "Poatan" has already saved two big cards in UFC 300 and UFC 303 but doing it again would have been unthinkable.
It also appeared from his social media that his likely challenger, Magomed Ankalaev, was down to make a quick turnaround from UFC 308 to fight on December 7 in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, it now looks like Pereira's last fight against Khalil Rountree in October will stop him from doing that.
During a recent appearance on the Podpah podcast, Pereira revealed that he's dealing with a hand injury after Rountree was able to withstand a lot of damage before being stopped in the fourth round.
In that 4th round, I was throwing jabs and it was hurting my hand man, I swear. I was thinking ‘my hand must be broken’. It still hurts today. It's not that bad, but if I touch right here it hurts.
Though Pereira has fought through injuries in the past, "Poatan" faces a tough test in Ankalaev who he'll surely want to be at his best for. This was echoed in Ankalaev's response to the video on social media.
The top light heavyweight contender replied to Pereira's comments and claimed that the champion knows that he can't risk it this time around unlike some of his previous fights.
"Willing to fight everyone short notice but with me, he knows he have to be ready he’s not stupid"