#2 ranked UFC 205-pounder Magomed Ankalaev will have to wait some more for a shot at the light heavyweight title. The Russian, who came painfully close to winning the title two years ago, has been continuing his winning ways and has been the clear top contender to fight Alex Pereira for the 205-pound gold since last year.

But, it seems Dana White and Co. have decided that Ankalaev can wait some more. His manager, Rizvan Magomedov, in a recent interview, revealed that Ankalaev is scheduled to fight again this year against another light heavyweight since the Las Vegas-based promotion has ‘different plans’ for ‘Poatan’. The manager did not disclose whom Ankalaev will be facing next or when, undoubtedly because the UFC hasn’t made the official announcement yet.

“I think we should expect this fight somewhere in the beginning of 2025. This fight should definitely happen. I agree with you, Magomed Ankalaev should fight for nothing but the title. As far as I understand, the organization has slightly different plans for Alex Pereira. In order not to stagnate we already have a date and a fight. There will be an announcement soon about when Magomed Ankalaev will fight. And after that I think we will certainly fight for the title,” said Magomedov.

Magomedov’s claims about the UFC having different plans for the champ would have pricked up the ears of all UFC fans. After all, except for Ankalaev, there doesn’t seem to be any other clear contender at 205. ‘Poatan’, after all, has faced all the other top-five ranked light heavyweights who are not coming off losses, except for the Dagestani. This raises the question- is the UFC going to allow Pereira to move up to heavyweight?

Speculations rife about Alex Pereira’s heavyweight move after revelations made by Ankalaev’s manager

Alex Pereira of course, wants to move up to heavyweight and contend for the 270-pound title and a shot at becoming the UFC’s first three-division champion. And both heavyweight champions- interim champ Tom Aspinall and ‘undisputed’ champ Jon Jones have expressed interest in fighting ‘Poatan’ at 270.

In fact, Aspinall went as far as suggesting a heavyweight title ‘tournament’ on UFC 309 in November, where Jones is expected to fight Stipe Miocic. The interim champ floated the idea that he could take on ‘Poatan’ in the co-main event, with the winner fighting the winner of Jones-Miocic next.

However, there has been one obstacle in the Brazilian light heavyweight champ’s desire to move up: Dana White. The UFC CEO has shot down the idea every time it has been brought up, claiming he wanted Pereira to ‘clean out’ the 205-pound division first. However, given Rizvan Magomedov hinting the UFC has ‘plans’ for Pereira, and with these plans probably not involving any 205-pounder, Dana White may have changed his mind about Alex Pereira fighting at heavyweight next.

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