Jon Jones or Magomed Ankalaev - What's Next For Alex Pereira After Light Heavyweight Title Loss at UFC 313?

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Alex Pereira on Saturday (March 8) saw his unbeaten streak in the division end and in the process dropped the UFC Light Heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev in the headliner of UFC 313: Pereira vs. Ankalaev at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Ankalaev earned the decision win, ending Pereira's five-fight winning streak since the Brazilian's move to the light heavyweight division. This result has led to speculation about what's next for the former champion.

There has been talk of the Poatan moving up a weight division to challenge UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones. Moving weights is something that is not new to Pereira, who switched from middleweight to light heavyweight two years ago.

However, Pereira put end to all the gossip after the defeat to Ankalaev in a video posted on his social media channels. The 37-year-old first revealed the injuries he picked up during the bout against Ankalaev before hinting at his next fight in the Octagon.

"That's it everyone, some marks, but I'm good. Going to rest a bit, but I'll be back like I've always done. This has already happened, but I'm good. I'm grateful for all of your support, for all of your love, always supporting me. I'm receiving so many messages of encouragement. I'm here with my people, my family, my team, my children... everyone's here!", Pereira said in the video as quoted by the Mirror.

"Everyone's here with me, we're going to have some pizza. That's that. Life continues. Thank you to everyone. Thank you to my team. I'm going to make some adjustments for the rematch and I'll be much better... you can count on it! All good everyone, never give up on your dreams. Chama."

Going by his statement, Pereira's plan for the immediate future is to win back his light heavyweight title, meaing a rematch with Ankalaev is the one for the former champion. The Brazilian may still face Jones or the heavyweight champion later.

Pereira has shown how quick he has been to recover after a fight as the Poatan defended the light heavyweight title three times in the space of six months last year, and also landed the title in 2023 with back-to-back fights in the space of four months. So, expect his next fight to happen in the near future.