Alex Pereira says ominous message about UFC future was due to hack

Alex Pereira’s verified X account posted an ominous message on social media Wednesday afternoon, indicating he and the UFC may not be on the best of terms at the moment, and that he was potentially considering not fighting again.

Several hours later, Pereira posted a video of himself explaining that his social media account was hacked and that it was not he who posted the message.

The X post read: “I always answered the UFC’s calls, but if they want to play with me, we can do that. I’ve never spoken poorly of the UFC but with what I’ve just heard I’m disheartened. I’ve already had thoughts of not fighting anymore, and after what was just relayed to me this may be the start.”

Pereira later explained in a video message on Instagram that he was unaware his account had been hacked until he began receiving messages asking him about the post.

“I don’t even know what’s going on,” Pereira said, referring to the post, which was still up at the time he published his video message. “I have a great relationship with the UFC. People like to do bad things. That’s that.”

Pereira pointed out that he doesn’t often make posts on X, noting the infrequency of his tweets. The last tweet prior to the ominous Wednesday message was a video of him getting out of some water on April 24.

The former UFC light-heavyweight champion lost his title to Magomed Ankalaev in early March at UFC 313, and afterwards, UFC president Dana White suggested an immediate rematch will “probably” be next.

That rematch has not been announced or confirmed by the UFC to date.

Ankalaev’s lacklustre decision victory was met with boos from the crowd in attendance and White said the five-round bout was “not what I expected. I expected a lot more shooting. I expected a lot more exchanges.”

The 32-year-old from Dagestan went 0-for-12 on takedown attempts against Pereira in their 25-minute bout, but managed to find decent success striking. The current champion told reporters at his post-fight press conference that night in Las Vegas that he never picks his opponents and he’d be happy and ready to run it back with Pereira later this year for his first title defence if that’s what the UFC offers next.

Pereira had won five in a row and four straight by knockout at 205 pounds prior to UFC 313 and headlined three separate pay-per-view events in 2024, all of which he accepted on relatively short notice and/or while he was still nursing injuries.

The 37-year-old said back in March that he’s “gonna make some adjustments for the rematch, and I’ll be back much better. You can count on it.”

The Brazilian combat sports superstar was a two-weight world kickboxing champion before turning his focus to mixed martial arts. He began his UFC career as a middleweight in 2021 and won the title in 2022 when he defeated Israel Adesanya, a longtime rival from their kickboxing days. Adesanya won an immediate rematch by knockout and “Poatan” moved up from the 185-pound division to the 205-pound ranks.

Pereira became the UFC’s ninth two-division champion when he won the light-heavyweight title in 2023 after moving up in weight. He is 9-2 in the UFC, with six of his wins coming against UFC champions. Ankalaev is riding a 14-fight unbeaten streak dating back to 2018.

— With files from Mike Johnston

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