Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev are worse for the wear after UFC 320. Pereira, the UFC light heavyweight champion, believes he broke his foot during Saturday’s fight. Meanwhile, reports claim Ankalaev fought with a broken rib.
Pereira is shockingly compromised despite how quickly he decimated Ankalaev at UFC 320. After knocking out Ankalaev in 80 seconds, “Poatan” limped out of the Octagon with what he believes is a broken foot.
“It’s my foot,” Pereira, wearing a boot, told reporters, via a Portuguese interpreter, at the UFC 320 post-fight press conference. “I’m pretty sure it’s broken. The inside calf kicks were working. I threw a few of those, and then he switched stances, and I think I was in the wrong range. And I threw another kick to his lead leg, and it landed on the tip of my foot. I think it’s broken.”
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While Pereira believes he suffered the injury in the fight, Ankalaev might have entered the fight with an injury of his own. Ali Abdelaziz, Ankalaev’s manager, claimed there were many reasons Ankalaev should not have followed through with the fight, but wouldn’t specify why.
“There are a lot of things happened with Ankalaev in his camp,” Abdelaziz posted on Instagram. “But, it’s for him to talk about. Not me. And if I need to talk about it, I will talk about it. If it was up to me, he should never have fought due to some things. But he’s a grown man, he makes his own decisions, and he lives by his actions.”
On Monday, reports emerged that Ankalaev fought Pereira with a broken rib. Léo Guimaraes, whose Twitter bio describes him as a combat sports journalist, posted a video of Ankalaev undergoing rib treatment approximately 20 days before the fight. Sources anonymously confirmed the injury to MMA Fighting, claiming he could barely spar heading into UFC 320.
Ankalaev addressed his loss on Monday, but did not disclose an injury.
