Did Dana White purposely save Alex Pereira from Magomed Ankalaev until now? Sounds a bit absurd? Well, that’s exactly what the title challenger Ankalaev believes. The Russian fighter has directly called out both the UFC CEO and Alex Pereira during media day. What did he say? Stay tuned as we bring you another episode of MMA Roundup.

From the Alex Pereira and Dana White news, we will move forward to Belal Muhammad, who has some necessary updates about his Palestine flag use in the UFC. We will end our segment with a piece of information about Rey Mysterio. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.

Magomed Ankalaev calls foul on Dana White and Alex Pereira

We are just moments away from witnessing the clash between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313. The light heavyweight title will be on the line, and both stalwarts of the division are prepared to deliver nothing short of war. It appears the Russian has fired the first shots, as he openly disrespected the champion during media day.

While firing shots at Dana White, the Russian called out to the crowd who were chanting “Chama, Chama” and said, “You know what? Honestly, [Pereira] should say thank you to Dana White for protecting him this whole time. Now it’s going to be a whole different thing. We’re planning on absolutely dominating him on Saturday.”

He further added, “We’re going to make sure that Chama has no chances on Saturday. Whether or not he stays in the sport or decides to go back to the tire shop, that’s going to be up to him. He’s going to be the one that has to make that decision.” Quite a bold statement from Ankalaev when he is clearly at a disadvantage due to Ramadan fasting.

Well, it would not be wrong to state that Dana White took his sweet time to give Ankalaev a chance but was he protecting Alex Pereira? Nope. The LHW champ defended his title thrice last year making him one of the most active fighters. Well, while we wait for the fight to be here, let us look at Belal Muhammad and his flag demand.

Belal Muhammad wants the UFC to add the Palestine flag to their records

Belal Muhammad is the only fighter within the UFC to actively represent Palestine. However, despite being the welterweight champion, the UFC appears to be in no mood to add their flag to their log books. While having a conversation with the fans on social media, Muhammad has emphasized that he has had a conversation about it with the UFC CEO Dana White and they are working on it.

“People keep asking me, ‘Where’s your flag?’ I kept getting multiple messages from it, and I was assuming it was a mistake, but it’s still not addressed,”  said Belal Muhammad in a video posted by him on his social media. “So I’ll address it and hope that Dana addresses it as well and fixes it because Dana said he’s all about free speech. He’s all about people supporting who they want to support and not muting or silencing anybody. I’m hoping that the UFC fixes this issue and puts my flag next to my name so the people that I represent, the people that I fight for, and the people that I train for, will see their flag.”

Born in Chicago, Belal Muhammad proudly represents his homeland on the global stage. It must be noted that ‘Remember The Name’ won his welterweight title walking out at a music about Palestine. Bracing to face, Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 305, Muhammad will be looking to continue his winning streak. For now, let us move on to our last segment about Ignacio Bahamondes and Rey Mysterio.

Ignacio Bahamondes gets amazing backing ahead of UFC 313

Preparing to face Jalin Turner at UFC 313, Ignacio Bahamondes is looking to extend his winning streak to three fights after successfully defeating Manuel Torres and Christos Giagos last year. Ahead of his fight, it appears that ‘La Jaula’ received a surprising visit from WWE legend Rey Mysterio.

The WWE superstar made a surprise visit to watch Ignacio train and gifted him exclusive Roots of Fight merchandise from his collection. Ignacio shared the moment by capturing it on video and posting it to his Instagram. Furthermore, Yair Rodriguez posted a group photo of them together.

Bahamondes will be looking to win this Saturday after such amazing backing. Given that, what are your thoughts on the fight card? Let us know in the comments below.