The world of combat sports was excited after witnessing a glimpse of the potential amalgamation of MMA and boxing, as former unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua invited current UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira for his boxing debut on the social media platform Twitter/ X. This left the combat sports fraternity surprised.

However, some people, like Alex Pereira’s potential upcoming rival, Magomed Ankalaev challenged Anthony Joshua to come and fight in the UFC on the same Twitter/X thread the day after Joshua’s offer.

Pereira’s UFC rival challenges Anthony Joshua to enter the octagon

UFC lightweight champion Alex Pereira successfully defended his title for the second time against top-ranked light heavyweight contender Jiri Prochazka in the UFC 303 main event, knocking him out with a head kick. This achievement broke records held by Conor McGregor and Jon Jones, as Pereira became a two-division champion with two title defenses in just eight UFC fights.

This achievement by Pereira caught the attention of Anthony Joshua, who is gearing up for his next fight against Daniel Dubois on September 21. Joshua wrote on X, “Alex Pereira should make a boxing debut one day.” Alex Pereira felt honored and replied to Joshua, “I’m honored you think so. It’s always been my dream, I’m 37 I cannot make a career in it. So, who do you recommend I fight?”

Not happy with Anthony Joshua’s offer, Magomed Ankalaev lashed out in anger. He suggested Joshua should come to MMA instead of inviting Alex Pereira to boxing. Ankalev tweeted. “You’re trying to get one more easy payday what about you come to the @ufc real fighting?” However, the tweet war did not stop there. In more tweets, Magomed Ankalaev also lashed out at Alex Pereira, accusing him of running away like other UFC fighters in the past, such as Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.

Magomed Ankalev accuses Alex Pereira of “dodging”

A few hours ago, after lashing out at Anthony Joshua, UFC ranked #2 light heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev accused Alex Pereira of fleeing from a fight with him. However, The Dagestani believes he is next for a matchup with Pereira.

Recently, Pereira reacted in an honoring way, saying he might consider a boxing match at some point. In his tweet, Pereira asked Joshua who he should fight next. Irritated by this conversation, Ankalaev lashed out on Twitter, writing, “@AlexPereiraUFC One more UFC champion want to run to boxing because he knows he’s going to lose his belt next.” The tweet has since been deleted.

Ankalaev is now riding high off his recent victory against Johnny Walker at UFC Vegas 84, proving his claim for the title belt. Unfortunately, the UFC has not spoken about it yet, and Pereira seems to be aiming towards the UFC Heavyweight division to capture the next title against division king Jon Jones. Whom do you want to see fighting “Poatan” against? Magomed Ankalaev or Jon Jones? Let us know in the comments.