Alex Pereira responds to callout from Khamzat Chimaev: “He wants attention, but he’ll have to take a number and go back to the line”

Alex Pereira is responding to the callout from Khamzat Chimaev.

Khamzat Chimaev took to ‘Twitter’ with a video of Alex Pereira being declared the winner of his match-up with Sean Strickland saying:

“I’m want to fight with this guy @ufc @dana white lets make it”

It was Alex Pereira (6-1 MMA) vs Sean Strickland (25-4 MMA) at UFC 276 on July 2nd. The outcome was a KO victory for the middleweight Brazilian (see that here).

In speaking on the MMA Fighting podcast ‘Trocação Franca’, Pereira reacted to the callout from Chimaev saying:

“Look at this guy. I’m going to fight for the belt, it’s guaranteed. He wants attention. ‘Oh, I wanna fight this guy.’ He knows I’m the next contender and he still says something like that. I’d like to see (what he would do) if Dana White came out and said, ‘Alex, your shot at Adesanya is guaranteed but he wants some time to prepare, so fight this guy first because he wants to fight you. Your title shot is still guaranteed.’ Let’s see what he would say.”

(via Zuffa LLC)

Apparently Pereira has no interest in fighting the Russian, continuing:

“(Chimaev) wants attention because he knows it doesn’t make sense. I’m going to go back and fight him when I’m already guaranteed for the belt? He wants attention, but he’ll have to take a number and go back to the line.”

Concluding, Alex Pereira said:

“These guys wanna make a name for themselves (by talking). If I wasn’t going to fight for the belt already and he said something like that, hats off to him. But the way he’s doing it, he’s a coward. He’s a coward seeking attention.”

Chimaev (11-0 MMA) is obviously eyeing his next fight after defeating Gilbert Burns (20-5 MMA) last April at UFC 273.

Pereira has his sights set on getting in the Octagon with title holder Israel Adesanya  (23-1 MMA) next. Adesanya last fought on July 2nd at UFC 276 as well, where he defeated Jared Cannonier (15-6 MMA) via unanimous decision.

Would you like to see Khamzat Chimaev get in the cage with Alex Pereira or are you waiting for the Adesanya vs Pereira match-up?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!