LAS VEGAS – It’s been a unique fight week for Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313.

Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) challenges UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) in Saturday’s main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+).

Ankalaev will be competing during the month of Ramadan, where Muslims are required to fast from dawn until sunset without any food or water. He revealed that he broke his fast during the week of the weight cut in order to make sure he can make 205 pounds successfully.

“If we’re talking about the training or the training camp, the preparation, that was done before Ramadan,” Ankalaev told reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC 313 media day. “So there was no issues with that.

“The only thing that we had to change is because the week of the fight is Ramadan, what I had to do was I had to break a couple of fasting sessions because I have to drink a lot of water in order for me to be able to make the weight. Other than that, everything is the same.”

Pereira poked fun at Ankalaev when he noticed his name on several meals at the UFC Performance Institute. He accused him of using Ramadan as an excuse, but Ankalaev brushed off his comments.

“He’s obviously really worried about me and what I’m doing,” Ankalaev said. “He seems to be nervous, so he’s following all these things. I mean, what can I say? I’ll tell you again: I had to break the fast a couple of times because there’s something that I need to do in order to make the weight and in order to be prepared.

“He seems to be way too concerned with that. Even if he goes to a fridge right now and he opens the food, he’ll see that there’s food with my name on it, the UFC food that was given to me. If he wants it, he can take it.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.