'I was hacked' - Pereira denies retirement tweet

Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira says his social media was hacked after a tweet hinted at retirement.

Pereira, 37, last fought in March when he lost his UFC belt to Magomed Ankalaev, and is currently in talks to fight the Russian again.

In a post on Wednesday Pereira said he was "disheartened" with the UFC and was having "thoughts of not fighting any more".

Pereira is the UFC's biggest current star and after a few hours of speculation, the Brazilian posted a video from his Instagram account saying it was not a statement made by him.

"I've received a ton of messages, getting messages from everyone, who saw a post from my Twitter," Pereira said in Portuguese.

"I didn't even 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."