Alex Pereira has quelled fears that he has plans of retiring and attributed a post of his that outlined apparent grievances with the UFC to a hacker.
“Poatan” hasn’t fought since seeing his storied light-heavyweight title reign end at the hands of Magomed Ankalaev in March - the aftermath of which has been rife with controversy, with Ankalaev’s camp accusing Pereira of “greasing” during their bout.
With little word on his next fight, the former two-division champion appeared to share a cryptic message on X in which he detailed a disagreement with the promotion.
The 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.”
This put “Poatan” fans into a frenzy, fearing one of Dana White’s few remaining superstar draws could be on his way out.
However, Pereira has taken to Instagram to ease any worries of a potential retirement, insisting that he has a “good relationship” with the UFC.
“I’ve received a ton of messages, getting messages from everyone who saw a post from Twitter,” He said. “I didn’t even know about it, I was hacked.
“It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, you guys see. But I was hacked and I’ll resolve it. I don’t even know what’s going on.
“I have a great relationship with the UFC. People like to do bad things. That’s that, chama.”
Pereira is one of the UFC’s most popular stars, renowned for his relentless fight schedule and reliability for stepping into the headliner spot when the promotion needs him most.
After an illustrious kickboxing career, he stepped into the UFC in 2021 and claimed middleweight gold just a year later, after renewing hostilities with former kickboxing rival and then-champion Israel Adesanya.
After losing the rematch to Adesanya via knockout, Pereira bounced back by establishing himself as imperious at light-heavyweight, becoming a two-division champion as he embarked on an entertaining, finish-heavy reign.
Ankalaev got the better of him in his last outing at UFC 313 to end his time on the light-heavyweight throne, losing by unanimous decision.
