Following the fight, Magomed Ankalaev‘s team accused Pereira of cheating, by greasing his body and making it harder to be taken down after Ankalaev failed to score a single takedown.

Although the Russian wasn’t able to take Alex Pereira down, the Brazilian alarmingly only threw 11 head strikes the entire fight, leading to questions regarding his health going into the fight.

Joe Rogan claims Alex Pereira fought UFC 313 with broken hand and norovirus

Immediately following the fight, UFC icon, Joe Rogan questioned Pereira’s ‘uncharacteristic’ performance, stating that he didn’t look himself.

That notion was agreed by his commentary partner, Jon Anik, who told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive interview, that Pereira didn’t seem himself even during his famous walkout.

Now a few weeks removed from his disappointing loss, Rogan has claimed that ‘Poatan’ went into his UFC 313 main event with a broken hand and norovirus.

The event was hit by last-minute changes after Curtis Blaydes and Chris Gutierrez were both pulled from the event after contracting norovirus during fight week.

“They say he fought with a broken hand and norovirus against Ankalaev, he fought with a broken toe before when he beat Jiri Prochazka, he had a f—– up knee,” Rogan claimed during an episode of Fight Companion during UFC London on Saturday.

Magomed Ankalaev reveals date for rematch against Alex Pereira

Although Rogan’s claim would make Pereira’s performance make more sense, it is unclear how accurate the commentator’s comments are.

Pereira was the most active champion throughout 2024 and fought with injuries several times on his way to winning Fighter of the Year.

Despite the 37-year-old’s injury status being relatively unclear, Ankalaev allegedly kicked off negotiations for the rematch just a few days after his title win.

And with that, earlier this week, Ankalaev claimed the rematch is set for August, with Pereira hopeful of reclaiming his light heavyweight title.