A lot of MMA fans were surprised to see that Alex Pereira’s next UFC light heavyweight title defense will be against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 in October.
Despite Rountree having an impressive run of finishes with back-to-back wins last year, many expected to see Magomed Ankalaev get the next shot at “Poatan”.
Instead, Ankalaev will be taking on Aleksandar Rakić at UFC 308 where a win over another top contender will surely see him earn a second shot at the 205-pound title.
He was unsurprisingly critical of the UFC’s decision to book Pereira against Rountree Jr. but some of his comments struck a nerve with another one of the light heavyweight division’s big names.
Jamahal Hill Says He’d Be Willing To Fight Magomed Ankalaev At UFC 308
During a recent YouTube video on his channel, Jamahal Hill gave his reaction to Ankalaev’s comments after the announcement.
Hill believes that Ankalaev has looked to gain popularity from the fans by coming at him to try and win some of them over.
The former champion also referenced how the Dagestani fighter hasn’t always been in the UFC’s good books, believing that he has bitten his tongue this time around rather than publicly slamming the promotion for not booking him as the next title challenger.
“I made a reaction video about the Khalil Rountree and Alex Pereira fight announcement and there was one guy in particular who yeah, I will agree he’s been given the run-around by the business right and I’m assuming now, he’s learned his lesson now to watch his mouth ‘cuz as you know, we talking about Mrs, I ain’t even going to, little ‘Frudamed Gankalaev’, ankle grabber, whatever you want to call him. This dude just can’t stop trying to like clout chase in whatever way he can. bro like, you fought to a draw, you had your chance, you had your chance of winning the title.
“Now, I am one of the people that agree that he should have been next in the title shot above Khalil Rountree, and I spoke on this. But, for you to say like, say I’m crying because I spoke on an obvious fact of the game that affects everybody in our weight class and things like that, I see what you tried to do bro. You see that the whole fan base, they’re kinda against me, they kind of want to throw s*** on me and s*** like that. You think that you can get some cool points by jumping on that bandwagon and trying to call me out. Stop it bro, stop it bro. I would expect a low IQ move like that from you, you know what I mean. You don’t want to say anything about the fight being announced because you’ve now learned your lesson from the time whenever you lost, talking about you don’t want to fight for the UFC…and now they have now smacked your hand and now you know to watch your mouth and stay in check.
Hill ended the video by saying that he would be open to stepping in to face Ankalaev if, for whatever reason, Rakić is unable to compete on October 26 in Abu Dhabi.
“Sweet Dreams” was originally scheduled to make a quick turnaround after losing the title but withdrew from UFC 303 in June due to an injury.
“They don’t even like you enough to let you fight [for the title] over the #8 dude! So chill out bro, chill out tryna get cool points bro, focus on other s***. You got a fight coming up against Rakić, shout out to Rakić cuz’ he’s very well capable of putting your a** out. But, best believe if my phone ring and they need somebody to come step in and handle you, bro you’re light work for me. You’re light work for me and I can’t wait to show that.”
