Magomed Ankalaev isn’t backing down from Alex Pereira’s trash talk. After ‘Poatan’ mocked his longtime rival recently by commenting, “Hahahahahahahaha, are you alive?” on a post about Ankalaev’s latest push for a trilogy fight with the Brazilian, Ankalaev wasted no time in firing back.

Instead of simply ignoring the taunt, the Dagestani has now responded with a loaded response ahead of his UFC Abu Dhabi headliner fight this weekend. Speaking through a translator at Wednesday’s media day, the 34-year-old joked that Alex Pereira is the one who has been sleeping ever since Ciryl Gane knocked him out at UFC Freedom 250 last month, even suggesting ‘Poatan’ had forgotten who was waiting for him.

“You know, Alex Pereira must have been sleeping for a long time because I believe that he was put to sleep pretty hard,” Ankalaev said. “So he must have just woken up, and he must have forgotten that I’m alive still.

“Well, if you have a way to connect to him or pass a message on my behalf, tell him that, yeah, I’m alive and well, and I’m waiting to see what he can show.”

The exchange marks the latest chapter in one of the UFC’s most intense rivalries. Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira are 1-1 after going through two light heavyweight title fights.

Ankalaev won their first fight to win the title, but ‘Poatan’ reclaimed it with a devastating 80-second knockout in their rematch at UFC 320 last year in October. Shortly after, the Brazilian vacated the throne to move up to heavyweight, putting the trilogy on hold.

But despite Alex Pereira’s departure from the division, Magomed Ankalaev recently stated that he is still determined to settle the score. The former champion insists the rivalry deserves a deciding trilogy fight, as he believes his knockout loss was just an ‘accident’ and shouldn’t define the rivalry.

“I will be chasing that fight, no matter if it takes place at heavyweight or light heavyweight,” he told MMA Junkie. “Although he moved up, so I’m not just focusing on him, as I have some business to finish in the light heavyweight division.

“But at the end of the day, as long as he’s not retired, I’m sure the UFC would be interested. We are 1-1. I won the first fight, and it’s fair to say it was a domination. I lost the second one, but it was just an accident. So, I think the third fight should be very exciting for the fans. Time will tell.”

Whether fans agree with that assessment is another matter. Especially since Ankalaev, who now describes the loss as an accident, previously stated that the biggest mistake wasn’t what happened inside the cage against ‘Poatan’; it was ignoring the people closest to him before he ever stepped into it.

Magomed Ankalaev’s previously revealed reason behind his loss to Alex Pereira

Before reviving the rivalry, as he did with the UFC Freedom 250 jibe, Magomed Ankalaev went blunt about the circumstances surrounding his rematch with Alex Pereira, admitting that he shouldn’t have stepped inside the Octagon in the first place.

The former light heavyweight champion claimed that he entered UFC 320 with a broken rib, which he suffered in training. His coach, Sukhrab Magomedov, as well as manager Ali Abdelaziz, were constantly asking him to withdraw from the bout and allow the UFC to reschedule the title fight.

“I had some specific health issues at the time,” he told MMA Junkie. “And I was advised by many not to even go out, to pull out of the fight, that they were gonna move it to a later date.”

However, rather than listen to his team, the Russian went forward with the fight and paid the price at UFC 320. Unable to move as well as he could before due to the broken rib, Alex Pereira pushed him back against the cage and knocked him out in just 80 seconds, reclaiming the title with a first-round knockout. So, according to the Russian, he has only himself to blame for losing the light heavyweight title.

“I decided that I was well enough to go on,” he continued. “I decided not to listen to anybody. I made a mistake, and sometimes you have to pay for your mistake. This has been a long time… I would rather not revisit it if we can.”

For now, Ankalaev is focused on another task at hand. The former champion headlines UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday against late replacement Bogdan Guskov. ‘Hitman’ has stepped in on short notice and replaced Khalil Rountree Jr., who withdrew due to an injury.

A victory against the 33-year-old would put Magomed Ankalaev back in the light heavyweight title picture, something that would potentially mean more to him than simply trying to settle a score with Alex Pereira, who simply seems content at being a heavyweight for now and has not revealed any plans about moving back down to 205 lbs.

However, it seems like the Dagestani is walking into this fight too confident.

“This is just a fight to be back,” Ankalaev told MMA Junkie. “It’s like a tuneup, if you want to call it. I get it with Bogdan, so to speak, because he is No. (9), so for him to get this type of opportunity, it’s definitely life-changing. It’s a huge deal.

“He’s gonna try to take my number and this and that, but it’s gonna be really tough for him to jump out just like that.”

But the same overconfidence may come to haunt the Russian since Bogan Guskov has won four of his last five fights by stoppages. In fact, his fifth wasn’t even a loss but a majority draw against former champion Jan Blachowicz back at UFC 323.

So it would be interesting to see if Magomed Ankalaev will fall to the same overconfidence that led him to walk into the second Alex Pereira fight with an already failing body. And seeing how 2026 has already been the year of the underdogs, with fighters such as Sean Strickland defeating Khamzat Chimaev, Justin Gaethje finally claiming the lightweight title, and many more fighters delivering upsets, fans can surely be in for a major surprise.