Magomed Ankalaev hopes to complete his trilogy with Alex Pereira.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion returns to the Octagon on Saturday in a main-event bout against Bogdan Guskov in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He hasn't fought since dropping the title in a first-round knockout loss to Pereira in their UFC 320 rematch last October.
Ankalaev said he wants Pereira to return to the light heavyweight division so they can fight again.
"It's for him to decide, but if it was up to me, I would love for him to come back down to his division so we can have our rubber match," Ankalaev told CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri through an interpreter.
Pereira, the former light heavyweight and middleweight champion, made his heavyweight debut at the UFC White House event in June, suffering a second-round TKO loss to Ciryl Gane in an interim title bout.
Pereira has said he plans to stay at heavyweight, though his next fight isn't set yet.
Ankalaev said he expected Pereira to have a hard time adjusting to being a heavyweight - especially against Gane.
"I kind of assumed that it was gonna be a tough transition for Alex, especially against somebody like a Ciryl Gane, who is a true heavyweight, who is speedy, who is very technical," Ankalaev said. "I pretty much envisioned that that was gonna be how the fight was gonna go."
Ankalaev beat Pereira by unanimous decision to become the 205-pound champ at UFC 313 in March 2025 before losing the belt in their immediate rematch.
The 34-year-old Dagestani is looking to get back on track against Guskov after the loss to Pereira ended his 14-fight unbeaten streak. Ankalaev was initially scheduled to face Khalil Rountree Jr. this weekend, but Rountree withdrew last week due to an injury.
