He'd rather to lose to someone that if he losses to him, it wouldn't burn his soul the core.
I mean, no fighter ducks a fighter but when you see it from another way, Ankalaev for an example, was the last fighter Alex Pereira would ever want to lose to, like when he chose Khalil, Khalil could've made Alex lose, shouldn't that also have made Alex duck him? but no, had Alex lost to Khalil (Alex won tho), Alex would still feel peace in his soul, no wonder he picked the Khalil fight over Ankalaev, unlike when he lost to Ankalaev cause he's Muslim, cause remember, Alex never wanted no part of Ankalaev until the UFC made him do it, which is also a reason why the UFC booked Ankalaev vs Alex in RAMADAN which was a classless move by the UFC.
Like, no shame or anything to feel upset about to lose to Muslim fighters, bro, Muslim fighters are the most humble, moral, noble, brave and honorable combat sports athletes in the world.
We know that if RDR takes the Khamzat fight, he will lose but lose with honor, Fluffy Hernandez could beat him, losing to Khamzat would be better than him losing to Fluffy Hernandez, maybe I could be proven wrong tho, maybe he can beat Fluffy but lose to Khamzat or maybe he can beat both but if he losses, the loss that should be feeling more ashamed of if he losses to Fluffy instead of Khamzat.