Alex Pereira and the UFC weren’t on the same page a few months ago.
After four title defenses in less than a year, it seemed like the former UFC two-division champion wanted some more time off following his title loss to Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 313 in March.
It wasn’t long after the fight that we heard from Pereira again, but in a different tone than usual.
In May, a post went out from Pereira’s X account, voicing the former champ was ‘disheartened’ by the UFC amid a title fight snub that could have gone to Jiri Prochazka at UFC 317, had he not declined to fight Ankalaev. The X post also expressed Pereira’s thoughts of retirement.
Pereira later claimed the Tweet wasn’t him, but someone who hacked his account instead.
This week, Pereira walked that all back.
Alex Pereira admits he sent ‘impulsive’ Tweet to UFC, not a hacker
Ahead of his title rematch against Ankalaev at UFC 320 on Oct. 4, Pereira made an appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show.
Pereira was asked about the infamous Tweet, with ‘Poatan’ admitting to posting it because he found out Prochazka, the man he’s beaten twice, was previously in talks for a title fight over him.
“A little bit was miscommunication because I kind of found out through social media,” Pereira said through his translator, Plinio Cruz.
“I was upset back then that’s why I sent a Twitter but I regretted it. I was wrong because I didn’t know the talks that [were] going on. It’s kind of miscommunication between camp, manager, and the UFC.
“It’s not UFC’s fault,” Pereira said of the situation.
“100% was lack of communication. It was a little bit impulsive from me. I acted a little early because I didn’t talk to our manager. I saw the internet stuff and I felt a little bit hurt because I was promised the next title shot.
Pereira said he’s currently on good terms with the UFC.
MacKenzie Dern cited lack of communication ahead of her title fight
The UFC hasn’t always been straightforward with their athletes.
For instance, upcoming title challenger Mackenzie Dern said the UFC never mentioned anything about her fighting for the vacant strawweight title at UFC 321 to her.
On the Ariel Helwani Show, Dern said the UFC brass had floated the idea of an interim title to her as champion Zhang Weili would be moving up a weight class to fight Valentina Shevchenko.
Knowing she’d rematch Virna Jandiroba, Dern says she was as surprised as everyone else when the UFC announced that she’d be fighting for the undisputed title.
Dern says she found out that the title was vacant through Instagram after UFC CEO Dana White had already announced it to the world.
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