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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Magomed Ankalaev knew accepting a title fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 313 on March 8 was going to require some sacrifices because the date falls one week into Ramadan.

The holy month observed by Muslims across the globe requires fasting from dawn until sunset — avoiding all food and water during daylight hours. While none of that affected his preparation getting ready for the fight, Ankalaev admits he’s been forced to break the fast as he gets ready to cut down to 205 pounds on Friday for his fight against Pereira on Saturday.

“If we’re talking about the training or the training camp, the preparation, that was done before Ramadan,” Ankalaev said during UFC 313 media day on Wednesday. “So there was no issues with that. The only thing that we had to change is because the week of the fight is Ramadan, what I had to do was I had to break a couple of fasting sessions because I have to drink a lot of water in order for me to be able to make the weight. Other than that, everything is the same.”

Of course, Ankalaev has also heard Pereira chirping about food being delivered to his room, although that didn’t necessarily mean the Russian actually ate anything while he was observing the fasting rules for Ramadan.

For his part, Ankalaev can’t help but wonder if Pereira is already showing his hand by making all these comments that really shouldn’t matter much to him just days away from their fight.

“He’s obviously really worried about me and what I’m doing,” Ankalaev said. “He seems to be nervous. He’s following all these things. Like what can I say? I’ll tell you again. I had to break the fast a couple of times because there’s something I need to do in order to make the weight and in order to be prepared. He seems to be way too concerned with that.

“Even if he goes to a fridge right now and he opens the food, he’ll see that there’s food with my name on it, the UFC food that was given to me. If he wants it, he can take it.”

Beyond his jabs about Ankalaev observing the rules of Ramadan, Pereira also recently suggested a wager between them about the fight where the loser would pay $ 200,000 to a charity of the winner’s choice.

For all the ways Pereira seems to know the ins and outs when it comes to observing Ramadan, Pereira can’t help but remind him that another tenet of Islam is that Muslims aren’t allowed to gamble.

That’s why Ankalaev suggested just straight up donating to charity instead rather than attaching some bet as a condition for giving back.

“We were really clear about it online, we said as Muslims we cannot do bets,” Ankalaev said. “That’s not something that we support or that we look to do. However, if he wants to do something, any kind of charity or anything that he wants to do, we have the means to do it and I’d be happy to partake in that.”

Part of Pereira’s decision to go after Ankalaev regarding the way he practices his religion might come back to some concerns the Russian had about the light heavyweight champion potentially losing focus ahead of their showdown on Saturday.

With his title defense just weeks away, Pereira traveled to Australia to corner Sean Strickland in his fight against Dricus du Plessis not to mention conducting other business while he was overseas as well as spending a few nights out rather than extra time in the gym.

While Pereira may have taken past comments as a slight, Ankalaev promises that’s not the case and if anything, he was actually just showing concern for the UFC light heavyweight champion.

“We weren’t trying to make it personal or anything,” Ankalaev said. “We were just saying maybe we were worried about him that he’s kind of all over the place, all these different UFC events and stuff like that.

“Maybe he should have taken it as us being worried about him spending time doing something rather than being prepared for the fight. Whichever way he took it, it’s up to him. It’s not going to help him or make it worse.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The wait for Jon Jones to return to action may be sooner than later.

On Wednesday, UFC CEO Dana White revealed his expected timeline for Jones to return to action and defend his heavyweight title after a lopsided win over Stipe Miocic this past November. While Jones hasn’t fully committed to any fight since then, White is confident that he’ll get a deal done to put him in the octagon against interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in a title unification bout.

“The plan is to fight Jon this summer,” White told The Jim Rome Show. “Obviously, when, where and all that stuff is being determined. My goal this year is to make that fight [with] Aspinall.”

A potential wrinkle to those plans could come this weekend when Alex Pereira defends his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 313 main event.

A win would serve as Pereira’s fourth straight title defense and there wouldn’t be a lot of new challenges left for him at 205 pounds.

In fact, Pereira has already teased a potential move to heavyweight, but White says he’s actually behind hitting the pause button the Brazilian changing divisions again after conquering middleweight and light heavyweight.

“The other thing about Pereira that everybody loves is, this guy wants to go up to heavyweight and fight at heavyweight, too,” White said. “I’m the one that’s actually holding him back on that.”

Perhaps the biggest roadblock to Pereira moving up to heavyweight is White’s determination to book Jones against Aspinall before anything else.

White vows that’s the fight he wants to make most right now but assuming Jones battles Aspinall in 2025, he won’t discount the possibility that Pereira could then position himself for a massive showdown in his heavyweight debut.

“He wants to [fight Jon Jones],” White said about Pereira. “Let’s see how this fight plays out, if he wins, how he wins, all that kind of stuff.

“I think that the fight that everybody wants to see right now is Jones and Aspinall and then there’s no doubt that Pereira could fight the winner.”

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False Narrative
| BJPenn.com

Alex Pereira may be one victory away from cleaning out the 205-pound weight class.

In addition, defeating No. 1-ranked contender Magomed Ankalaev atop the UFC 313 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sat. night (March 8, 2025) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, could leave “Poatan” ranked as “the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”

That’s according to UFC CEO Dana White.

“He’s one of the biggest stars in the sport right now, if not the biggest star in the sport,” White told ESPN’s First Take. “What makes this weekend so great is Ankalaev is a very serious threat to him. It’s probably the toughest fight he’s ever had. His team always talks about his takedown defense and that the fans don’t really know how good it is. We’re going to find out how good it is this weekend. This is a tough fight for Alex. If Alex comes out of this the way he’s come out of every other fight, he might be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”

Pereira is currently ranked No. 3 on the official pound-for-pound chart (see it here).

Above “Poatan” are reigning heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones (No. 2) and current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (No. 1). “Bones” is expected to defend his title against Tom Aspinall later this year while Makhachev could be in line for this championship super fight.

Until then, all we can do is pray.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC 313 media day live stream will feature the biggest stars from Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas.

In the UFC 313 main event, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will try to retain his title against Magomed Ankalaev.

The UFC 313 media day will also feature top four fighters competing in the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 on Thursday night – Nicky Rodriguez, Renato Canuto, Victory Hugo, and Oliver Taza.

The UFC 313 media day schedule is as follows:

1:50 p.m.: Nicky Rodriguez

2 p.m.: Renato Canuto

2:10 p.m.: Victor Hugo

2:20 p.m.: Oliver Taza

2:30 p.m.: Magomed Ankalaev

3 p.m.: Ignacio Bahamondes

3:15 p.m.: Rafael Fiziev

3:30 p.m.: Iasmin Lucindo

3:45 p.m.: Mauricio Ruffy

4 p.m.: Justin Gaethje

4:15 p.m.: Jalin Turner

4:45 p.m.: Amanda Lemos

5:15 p.m.: King Green

5:30 p.m.: Alex Pereira

MMA Fighting – All Posts

The newly appointed FBI Director, Kash Patel, is considering implementing mixed martial arts (MMA) training as a mandatory requirement for agents, and one former agent supports the idea.

This initiative is part of Patel’s broader agenda, which includes aligning the bureau with the Trump administration’s priorities and enhancing the physical fitness of its personnel.

In addition to this proposed training regimen, Patel is reportedly focused on removing agents who do not align with the administration’s goals. The emphasis on physical fitness, particularly through MMA training, is seen as a way to ensure agents are prepared for the physical demands of their roles.

Jody Weis, a former FBI special agent in charge and former superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, has publicly expressed support for the idea, indicating that he believes it would be a beneficial addition to agent training.

“You know, I actually do like it,” Weis told The National News Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat. “I probably wouldn’t have made it my first call to the field offices, but I like the idea.”

Weis believes that while FBI agents receive training in arrest procedures and defensive tactics, incorporating mixed martial arts (MMA) skills would provide a valuable enhancement. He specifically highlighted the potential benefits of agents learning MMA fighting techniques, with a particular emphasis on jiu-jitsu.

“Most fights will end up on the ground, so it just makes sense to me to incorporate some MMA training — maybe Brazilian jiu jitsu to give the agents options besides strikes and weapons,” Weis told Jeffcoat. “For example, if properly applied, a naked choke or an arm bar could help gain compliance without having to use pepper spray or use a baton. And, I think, more importantly, this type of training can boost the confidence and safety for the agents.”

Jody Weis acknowledged the controversial nature of chokeholds, noting their “bad press” and the fact that many police departments have prohibited their use. However, he went on to say it pales in comparison to current tactics.

“As someone who’s been sprayed with pepper spray (and) who’s been choked out, if you give me the option of those two, I’ll take being choked out any time,” he said. “It’s far less painful. It’s got to be incorporated throughout their career. I think that applies in all sports.

According to ABC News, citing anonymous sources, FBI Director Kash Patel is reportedly exploring the possibility of establishing a formal partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the UFC, led by UFC CEO Dana White.

This potential collaboration is notable given White’s vocal support of President Donald Trump, who has frequently attended UFC events and been seen alongside White.

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