Pereira lost the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship to Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 313 in March. “Poatan” was defeated via unanimous decision. The story of the fight was that Ankalaev was the aggressor, forcing Pereira to fight backwards, which limited the effectiveness of his striking.

Alex Pereira suffered a disappointing loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 earlier this month in Las Vegas, but there were reports that the fight almost did not happen. In the end, the fight went ahead as planned,

Pereira, 37, became the subject of whispers this past week when UFC commentator Joe Rogan claimed on his podcast that Pereira came into the Ankalaev fight with a broken hand and norovirus. There's at least some truth to those rumors, as Pereira confirmed he dealt with injuries, but he declined to go into detail.