ALEX PEREIRA THREATENS DANA WHITE WITH UFC RETIREMENT FOLLOWING ROCKY CONVERSATIONS WITH PROMOTIONS

Alex Pereira has shockingly revealed that he is considering leaving MMA for good.

Pereira hasn't fought since dropping his light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 in March.

He suffered a unanimous decision defeat to the Russian in the main event of the Las Vegas card, but it seemed like both men were destined to rematch as soon as possible due to their reactions in the aftermath of the card.

However, in a shocking turn of events, Brazilian superstar Pereira has threatened UFC CEO Dana White by saying that he has considered 'not fighting anymore' in what would be a huge blow to the promotion.

"I always answered the UFC’s calls," he wrote on X.

"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 thoHe finished 2024 having defended the heavyweight title three times, knocking out fighters including Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill.

However, his defeat at UFC 313 left him in a position of needing to beat Ankalaev in a rematch to pursue a future in the heavyweight division.ughts of not fighting anymore, and after what was just relayed to me this may be the start."

The 37-year-old was undefeated at light heavyweight before locking horns with Ankalaev.

The loss meant his hopes of a future blockbuster with Jon Jones had come to an abrupt end after months of teasing a move to the heavyweight division.

‘Poatan’ had bounced back from losing the UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya to go on a tear at 205lbs.

He finished 2024 having defended the heavyweight title three times, knocking out fighters including Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill.

However, his defeat at UFC 313 left him in a position of needing to beat Ankalaev in a rematch to pursue a future in the heavyweight division.

Speaking after the Las Vegas card, UFC CEO White said Pereira will ‘probably’ get an immediate rematch.

Pereira, meanwhile, talked up the rematch in his post-fight reaction on social media.

“[I’m] gonna rest a bit. I’ll be back like I've always done. This has already happened, but I’m good," he said.

“I’m grateful for all your support, for all your love [and] always supporting me.

“I’m receiving so many messages of great encouragement. I’m here with my people: my family, my team, my children.

“Everyone’s here. Everyone’s here with me. I’m gonna have some pizza. That’s that, life continues.

“[I’m] gonna make some adjustments for the rematch and I’ll be back much better. You can count on it.

“All good everyone. Never give up on your dreams. Chama.”

But for now, it seems like Pereira is extremely frustrated at not getting an imminent rematch.

Should the Brazilian follow through on his threat to quit the UFC, there would be no shortage of suitors wanting to have him fight on their respective promotion.

However, he could take a completely alternative route to continue his combat career.

Ahead of his defeat to Ankalaev at UFC 313, Pereira was asked about who he would like to face next had he got past the Russian.

Pereira name-dropped UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and Jones but added another staggering name to his potential hit-list in the form of unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

“Those I see possibly happening, it doesn't depend on me it depends on the UFC, so whatever the UFC want me to do I will do it," Pereira added.

Usyk, 38, holds the IBO, WBC and WBO world heavyweight titles and will look to re-add the IBF world heavyweight crown to his collection when he takes on Daniel Dubois at Wembley on July 19.

But after they contest the rematch, Usyk could look to take on a money-spinning exhibition bout against Pereira.

There may be merit to the idea given UFC president White has joined forces with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh to spearhead a new boxing venture.

When asked for his response to the news of White dipping his toes into the boxing world, Pereira expressed his excitement and even dropped a hint about where and when his dream bout against Usyk would happen.

"Absolutely, I was hyped," Pereira said.

“I was happy when I heard the news. Who knows, September, Saudi Arabia.”

- Lewis Thompson

UFC CEO DANA WHITE JOINS MARK ZUCKERBERG'S META BOARD OF DIRECTORS

UFC CEO Dana White is now in business with Mark Zuckerberg.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook Inc., announced Monday the UFC CEO has joined the company’s board of directors along with John Elkann, CEO of Exor; and Charlie Songhurst, former General Manager and Head of Global Corporate Strategy at Microsoft.

“Dana, John and Charlie will add a depth of expertise and perspective that will help us tackle the massive opportunities ahead with AI, wearables and the future of human connection,” Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, said in a news release.

White, who’s mainly known for his work with the UFC, which spans over two decades, showed eagerness for the new venture.

“I’ve never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta’s board,” White said. “I am a huge believer that social media and AI are the future. I am very excited to join this incredible team and to learn more about this business from the inside. There is nothing I love more than building brands, and I look forward to helping take Meta to the next level.”

The announcement may not come entirely out of left field. Zuckerberg is a public fan and supporter of the UFC, and in recent years has been attending events, and seen hanging out with fighters and White himself. He even was one of the cornermen for Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. In addition, the UFC also used to stream its preliminary card fights on Facebook Live.

- Danny Segura

NGANNOU: UFC'S WHITE STANDING IN WAY OF MEGAFIGHT WITH JONES

Francis Ngannou is tired of listening to UFC CEO Dana White and wants to set the record straight.

Ngannou, 38, successfully returned to MMA after a two-year detour in boxing -- and the death of his 15-month-old son -- by defeating PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira in the main event of PFL Super Fights in Abu Dhabi.

While most of the MMA world celebrated Ngannou's return, White took aim at his former champion at a news conference ahead of UFC 308 by saying that he considered cutting Ngannou before he became champion and that "The Predator" actively ducked a fight with current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Ngannou reacted to White on Sirius XM Fight Nation's MMA Today.

"I think Dana's trying to make things up to buy good faith in the position he has lost," Ngannou said on Friday. "Dana has lost in this situation... and he cannot stand it. Bro, I won everything: I left. It's been almost two years, and the guy is still out there, he can't live without hounding me. Regardless of everything that happened, I'm not about him.

"The guy can't stand me. I don't know what his problem is. He can make everything up. That is his problem. I think he needs to make peace with himself because this situation is kind of weird."

White suggested that Ngannou would have made more money had he decided to stay with the UFC rather than sign with the PFL. Ngannou left the UFC in January 2023 and signed with the PFL in May 2023. While being signed with the PFL, he had the freedom to pursue opportunities outside the promotion and took on then-undefeated WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in boxing followed by a massive fight with former unified champion Anthony Joshua. Although he lost both, Ngannou reportedly made $20 million for both fights and raised his profile before heading back to MMA last weekend.

White shrugged off Ngannou's success away from the UFC and suggested he would have made more money if he stayed.

"Francis left because he knew that if he fought Jon Jones and didn't win, it would hurt his chances of making the money that he wanted to make," White said. "But realistically, his deal was bigger here. His deal was bigger here if he stayed in the UFC. They can deny it all they want, why the f--- would I lie? Why do I care? It doesn't matter to me one way or the other... he would have made more money if he stayed in the UFC.""

Jon Jones, right, and Francis Ngannou exchange pleasantries at a PFL event in June of 2023. Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

For Ngannou, there is more to the story, including money that he says the UFC still owes him.

"Which money is he talking about? The money that he owes me?," Ngannou said. "Remember, all of this ended with [them] saying, 'Oh, we'll backpay you from the money that we owe you for the Stipe [Miocic] and Ciryl Gane fight,' all of that. They never backpaid me. Now I have made more money than I have ever made in the UFC -- I would say twice the money that I could have ever made in my entire UFC career if I had continued in the UFC.

"Either way, if I had made less money, if I'm not making enough money that I could've made in the UFC, that's my problem. Why is he so pissed about me not making that much money? Like, c'mon man, live your life."

As for the Jon Jones fight, Ngannou is still very much interested in it and believes that Jones would like the fight as well. Jones is set to face former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic on Nov. 16. Should Jones win, Ngannou would welcome a cross-promotion fight, which would be one of the largest in MMA history. Whether it could happen is another question.

"The only guy standing in the way of that fight is Dana White," Ngannou said. "I want the Jon Jones fight. I'm down for the fight. Jones is down for the fight. But this is a new narrative. I was down for a Jon Jones fight three years ago and I am down for it now."

One person who could bring the fight to fruition is the Chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh and his Riyadh Season events. Riyadh Season was a title sponsor for Noche UFC and Alalshikh was instrumental in financing Ngannou's fights with Fury and Joshua. If anybody has the pull to make it happen, it would be Alalshikh.

While Ngannou holds on to a sliver of optimism that a fight with Jones could materialize, it would require White to check his ego at the door.

"For that to happen, Dana has to let this beef go," Ngannou said. "He has to let it go."

- Andreas Hale, ESPN

TURKI ALALSHIKH BLASTS CANELO ALVAREZ FOR ONLY TAKING 'EASY FIGHTS'

Canelo Alvarez Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

Canelo Alvarez’s latest fight booking has drawn the ire of some of combat sports’ most influential names.

The superstar boxer recently ruffled the feathers of UFC CEO Dana White and Conor McGregor recently, with White criticizing MGM for booking Alvarez’s upcoming Sept. 14 fight with Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas on the same night as UFC 306 at the nearby Sphere, and McGregor targeting Alvarez himself, calling him “a cornflake.”

Saudi Arabian adviser and fight promoter Turki Alalshikh also appears to have beef with Alvarez as he recently announced that he is not pursuing a dream fight between Alvarez and Terence Crawford.

On Wednesday, Alalshikh elaborated on his reason for not wanting to work with Alvarez or his team via a social media post.

“I heard what Canelo said that he respects me but doesn’t like the way we do business. As for him respecting me, it doesn’t matter to me if he does or not.

“As for the way I do business, I know why he doesn’t like it, because I only target big fights at fair prices, so of course anyone who likes easy fights won’t like that. And I know how he feels after losing to Bivol, so he’s been looking for easier fights ever since. Also, I’m not the one who’s afraid of fighting [David] Benavidez or Crawford.

“Therefore, I knew he was wasting our time and making excuses with big amounts of money that can’t be paid. So I’m continuing my way to make big fights that serve the boxing world, and he’s on his way to making easy show-only fights.”

The gist of Alalshikh’s criticism is that he believes Alvarez is intentionally pricing himself out of marquee matchups to avoid difficult opponents. Alalshikh points specifically to Alvarez’s most recent loss, which came against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in May 2022. Alvarez has rebounded with four consecutive victories, knocking off the likes of Gennady Golovkin, Jermell Charlo, and most recently, Jaime Munguia.

Up next for Alvarez is another defense of his super middleweight titles against Berlanga on Sept. 14. In Alvarez’s 65-fight career, he has lost just twice and also has two draws on his record.

Alalshikh has been aggressive in promoting big-name boxing bouts over the past few years. This past weekend, his Riyadh Season promotion held an event at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, headlined by Crawford fighting Israil Madrimov. He was also a driving force behind former UFC champion and current PFL star Francis Ngannou’s fights with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, and Fury’s recent championship bout with Oleksandr Usyk.

- Alexander K. Lee