‘Chama’ to ‘No Chama’! Dricus Du Plessis mourns loss of Alex Pereira money fight; finds ‘aura gone’ after UFC 313

For the first in as many times, Alex Pereira did not hint at a post-fight heavyweight shift after his UFC 313 PPV main event loss. The golden goose of light heavyweight is not the hottest commodity right now. Instead, he said he’d rebound against Magomed Ankalaev. Before this, ‘Poatan’ had also teased about a shift down to the 185-pound mark, twice. That had put him in the crosshairs of Dricus Du Plessis.

Alex Pereira cornered Sean Strickland opposite Du Plessis at UFC 312. He also trained with Sean Strickland the first time around at UFC 297, last year, against ‘Stillknocks.’ It was after the loss that he had teased a move down and got stern advice. Ever since, Dricus Du Plessis and Pereira have had cross-banter on who would defeat whom. Now, the middleweight champ quips about losing this prize fight.

‘Poatan’ started his double-division title run at middleweight with an epic rivalry with Israel Adesanya (1-1 a piece at MMA now; 3-1 in total). He swiped out Adesanya at UFC 281, and Adesanya bagged the undisputed gold with a 2nd round KO at UFC 287 PPV, and then came the move to 205 (now 5-1) in July 2023. After Dricus Du Plessis defeated Izzy at UFC 305, Pereira yet again teased a matchup.

Dricus Du Plessis was not happy with Alex Pereira's loss to Magomed Ankalaev😅

"Thanks Ankalaev for taking biggest payday of my life. Aura Gone."💰

🎥 @JacksonODoherty pic.twitter.com/UPiPL2fwoF

— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) March 18, 2025

Despite health hazards, he was ready to drop to 185 pounds again, which in turn impressed the UFC boss. CEO Dana White even billed him and Shavkat Rakhmonov as true embodiments of warrior spirits. Du Plessis urged that he’d rather go up to 205 pounds and settle it. As such, the duo have been circling each other, all resulting to a peculiar PPV super fight; But no more.

Search to get back that Alex Pereira ‘aura’ on, as Poatan vs Ankalaev 2 PPV betting line shrinks up

What could help Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira get some of that Pataxó mystique and indigenous warrior-esque charm back? A win or that classic KO would help; he did rally quite the triple-knockout title defense in the 2024 season. Additionally, a rematch after UFC 313 would help get started.

CEO White has hinted that with the star power behind Pereira, that might be the way to go. Until then, Dricus Du Plessis, heavyweight GOAT fights, Oleksandr Usyk, and all such bloated dreams would have to wait the queue.

UFC 313’s winner Ankalaev has said that Pereira deserves this rematch next. Magomed Ankalaev opened as the -200 betting favorite for his UFC 313 PPV assignment. Alex Pereira, who was installed as the +170 underdog lost the March 8 pay-per-view on unanimous scores. Right before that, they split it out with the gap closing evenly at -110.

This time — BetOnline.ag sportsbooks have Magomed Ankalaev propping up as a -175 odds-on favorite again. The title challenger is much closer a prop at +150 than last time. The question arises as to why. Does Ankalaev’s TD slump have to do something with it at all? Is this because he did not get a knockout win? Or do the oddsmakers agree that ‘Poatan’ has splintered travel duties and less focus on fight camp anyway?

A date and time are not official (if at all) for such a PPV rematch offering. The line has moved to -185/+160 in favor of Ankalaev over the last 48 hours. The champ wants his maiden defense to be in Abu Dhabi.

Related: Passport issues, antibiotics, and more! Alex Pereira reveals SHOCKING hurdles before UFC 307 fight

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