Video: Daniel Cormier confirms that Magomed Ankalaev fought Alex Pereira with a rib injury
Daniel Cormier publicly confirmed that Magomed Ankalaev competed against Alex Pereira at UFC 320 with a rib injury.
Daniel Cormier confirmed that Magomed Ankalaev was dealing with a rib injury when he fought Alex Pereira. Cormier was aware of the injury because he had seen a video of Ankalaev receiving injections into his rib prior to the fight to help manage the pain. Cormier clarified that this was not an excuse but a factual circumstance.
Cormier stated, “This is not a lie, this is not an excuse. I know this because prior to the fight, I saw video of him getting injections into his rib.”
🚨 Daniel Cormier confirms that Magomed Ankalaev fought Alex Pereira with a rib injury
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 8, 2025
"This is not a lie, this is not an excuse. Prior to the fight I saw a video of him getting injections into his rib…
He was able to hit pads and do cardio essentially for a month and a half… pic.twitter.com/jz9ItVICbE
Cormier acknowledged Ankalaev was “not at 100%,” but questioned if a healthy version would have changed the outcome due to Alex Pereira’s dominant performance:
“With that being said, I don’t know if the result changes, if he was healthy because of the way Pereira fought him. I know some people that are very close to Magomed Ankalaev that said for him not to fight. He wanted to fight. He wanted to go out there and beat Pereira again because he understood how important it was to have a victory over Alex and two over him would have been even a stronger statement as to why he is who he is. But he was not at 100%. But I don’t know if he was at 120% if he would have beaten Pereira on that night“
Reports suggest that the injury was a broken rib sustained about 20 days before the fight, which compromised Ankalaev’s ability to spar.