After losing his light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 313, one of the biggest stars in the sport needs to go back to the drawing board.
Some questioned whether Alex Pereira’s lifestyle and schedule damaged his chances on March 8 where he suffered a defeat to Magomed Ankalaev.
It looks like the former champion will get an opportunity to correct any mistakes with a rematch between Pereira and Ankalaev being spoken out in the immediate aftermath
Whilst contenders like Jan Blachowicz might have something to say about that, ‘Poatan’ has probably earned that opportunity following his incredible 2024 campaign.
Many fans and fellow fighters were left surprised by the Brazilian’s performance along with praising the efforts of the new titleholder.
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Adriano Moraes says Alex Pereira had a bad night at the office but needed to throw more
In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Brazil’s Adriano Moraes gave his thoughts on the main event of UFC 313 and Alex Pereira’s performance.
The former multiple-time world champion is set to compete for the vacant flyweight gold at ONE 172 when he faces Yuya Wakamatsu in a rematch at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
Having tuned in on March 8, ‘Mikinho’ weighed in with his take on the fight that many expected to be Pereira’s toughest test at light heavyweight.
“Sometimes you have bad times in the office. It’s not every time you’re gonna give our best performance and unfortunately it happened with Alex Pereira. That wasn’t his night. Unfortunately, I think a lot of things that he really wanted to do didn’t work on that night but he is still one of the greats.”
Moraes went on to explain where he believes the champion went wrong in his fourth defense of the 205-pound title.
Many pointed out how whilst Magomed Ankalaev deserves the credit to some degree, it was an uncharacteristically tame performance from Pereira where he threw relatively little.
Whilst ‘Poatan’ has never been a fighter that weaponizes high levels of output, Moraes believes that he needed to throw more in order to stop his opponent from dictating the fight.
“If I was in his corner, I just would talk to him to keep his combinations more like active because he’s so good, I don’t think Ankalaev would support his pressure but unfortunately, he let Ankalaev play his game and that was it.”
Alex Pereira may have underestimated Magomed Ankalaev’s striking
For a lot of fans, predicting the main event of UFC 313 came down to whether Magomed Ankalaev would try to wrestle or strike with Alex Pereira.
‘Poatan’ was able to successfully defend his challenger’s takedown attempts but that didn’t stop him from losing the fight via the scorecards.
Pereira may have to been too focused on the grappling which meant that he didn’t look his usual self whilst standing with the Russian.
On the other hand, there are two sides to every coin and Ankalaev not only looked sharp, he fought smart which allowed him to negate some of his opponent’s most dangerous weapons.