Wait—was the Alex Pereira X handle hacking incident just a publicity stunt? This week has been a whirlwind in the light heavyweight division, and at the center of it all is the former title holder. The entire hubbub kicked off with a bizarre X post where Pereira claimed that he was being sidelined by the UFC brass and hinted at walking away from the promotion entirely: “I always answered the UFC’s calls, but if they want to play with me, we can. I’ve never spoken poorly of the UFC, but after what I’ve just heard, I’m disheartened. I’ve already considered retiring, and this may be the start.”
Moments later, the post vanished! Moreover, a proper video clarification was issued by the Brazilian on his Instagram handle, which cited that his account had been hacked. “Well, everyone, I’ve received a ton of messages from everyone who saw a post on my Twitter. I didn’t 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 UFC. People like to do bad things. That’s that. Chama.”
Sounds pretty specific and suspicious, right? Well, you’re not alone. Naturally, fans were on the verge of breaking down, as accepting the departure of their favorite fighter, especially at the peak of his career, was incredibly difficult to process. Many fans took a sigh of relief as ‘Poatan’ assured them that he is not leaving the UFC, but the opposing parties believe that Pereira might be lying about his hacking incident.
Even Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen have raised eyebrows about the entire incident. While having a conversation on Good Guy/ Bad Guy, Cormier called out to the former light-heavyweight champion to state that he is lying about nothing else, “Alex Pereira is a liar. He didn’t get hacked. And he might have tweeted something, and someone called him like, ‘Yo, calm down, let’s chill.”
He further added, “I don’t believe the hacked thing, bro. It’s too convenient. It was too specific. I’m saying it publicly. My thought is … while Hunter was [in Dagestan] to meet Islam, guess who else Rizvan Magomedov manages? Ankalaev! He also manages Ankalaev! So while [Hunter] is in Dagestan speaking with Islam about the [Ilia Topuria] fight — remember, we still ain’t got a main event for International Fight Week — that’s a short period away, so [Hunter] goes, ‘What about you, Ankalaev, are you available?’ Ankalaev is like, ‘Okay, I could fight.”
The former double champ further asserted that the UFC might have contacted Pereira after speaking with Ankalaev, asking him if he could rematch the Dagestani during International Fight Week. However, ‘Poatan’ could have reportedly declined, “And then [Hunter] goes to Pereira and goes, ‘Alex, are you available?’ And Alex is like, ‘Well, it’s a short time to get ready.’ Right? ‘Okay, Alex, we’re gonna give somebody else this title fight.’ Alex gets mad, goes to the internet, puts that up there, then gets a call going.” Quite a bold claim from Daniel Cormier, but does he have any evidence? Certainly not!
So, does that mean Pereira is indeed hiding something? Was there a confrontation between him and the top brass of the promotion? The fog of speculation still lingers, but let’s break something else down. Following the entire fiasco, Dana White has stepped in for damage control. The UFC CEO has arranged a meet-and-greet event for Alex Pereira. A post was shared by the official UFC Instagram handle with the caption: “Chama! Don’t miss your chance to meet @AlexPoatanPereira!”
Was this an attempt to shun down the digital debris? Might be, but one thing is certain — the statement of Daniel Cormier has brought forward a different angle to the story, and we guess that White is in no position to lose his star amidst the MMA recession. Given that, Cormier was not the only ESPN analyst who believes that this hacking news is dubious.
Chael Sonnen makes fun of Alex Pereira’s hacking controversy
“Alex Pereira turns on the UFC publicly. Turns out he got hacked, and it was a great hack. They didn’t go too far with it, which made it very believable. I guess you would call it a friendly hacker,” said Chael Sonnen in a video uploaded on his Instagram handle. In his attempt to make a joke out of Alex Pereira’s controversy, ‘Uncle Chael’ shared his own story where he was contracted by a good hacker.
“I was recently contacted by a hacker. The email that was assigned to the Twitter that was used to get in—I had lost access to. But I needed that email to receive a password to activate Paramount Plus so I could watch the final season of Yellowstone. So now that I have got a friendly hacker, I say, “Dude, by the way, I lost that account. Will you go back in and find my code?” And he did. He wouldn’t give me the control, but he did. And then once we worked it out, everything was cool again. He ended up back at me,” narrated Chael Sonnen.
So, why was he narrating his story? Well, ‘The American Gangster’ revealed that it was Magomed Ankalaev who hacked Pereira’s X handle — or at least, Sonnen joked about it humorously. “Much like my hacker found me, Alex’s hacker found him. You know who it was? It was Big Ank. Ankalaev hacked into his account. He hacked his account, he tried to build a fight, he turned on the UFC, and he let him know: “I will come back and do it again.”
Does this statement stand true? Well, after the drama, the 205lbs champ took to his X handle to tear apart Pereira’s hacking news by stating that it was he who hacked his account, “It was me I hacked his account. Don’t worry, Alex. I’m waiting for you.”
Amidst the fog of uncertainty, it is difficult to ascertain the truth. For now, all we can do is wait for any official confirmation apart from Alex Pereira. Regardless, what is your opinion on the hubbub? State your thoughts in the comments below.
The post Hysteria Transpires as “Liar” Alex Pereira’s Situation Provokes ESPN Analyst to Break Silence appeared first on EssentiallySports.
