For displacement convex functionals in the probability space equip\-ped with the Monge-Kantorovich metric we prove the equivalence between the gradient and functional type \L oja\-sie\-wicz inequalities. \chg{We also discuss the more general case of $\lambda$-convex functions and we provide a general convergence theorem for the corresponding gradient dynamics. Specialising our results to the Boltzmann entropy, we recover Otto-Villani's theorem asserting the equivalence between logarithmic Sobolev and Talagrand's inequalities. The choice of power-type entropies shows a new equivalence between Gagliardo-Nirenberg inequality and a nonlinear Talagrand inequality. Some nonconvex results and other types of equivalences are discussed.