Magomed Ankalaev suffered a devastating knockout loss at UFC 320 and his supervisor Ali Abdelaziz now claims the fighter was severely compromised heading his rematch with Alex Pereira.
In Saturday’s fundamental occasion at T-Cell Enviornment in Las Vegas, Ankalaev misplaced the UFC gentle heavyweight title again to Pereira after being completed with strikes simply 80 seconds into the opening spherical. The bout was a direct rematch following Ankalaev defeating Pereira through unanimous resolution at UFC 313 this previous March to turn out to be champion.
Late Sunday night, Abdelaziz launched an announcement on Instagram supporting his fighter and alluded to pre-fight points that may have affected Ankalaev’s efficiency.
“Alex was one of the best man on Saturday evening,” Abdelaziz wrote. “And we take our losses like males. We transfer on. I don’t have any issues with Alex. I respect every thing he completed.
“There’s a variety of issues occurred with Ankalaev in his camp. However, it’s for him to speak about. Not me. And if I would like to speak about it, I’ll speak about it. If it was as much as me, he ought to by no means have fought as a consequence of some issues. However he’s a grown man, he makes his personal selections, and he lives by his actions.”
Abdelaziz didn’t reveal precisely what points Ankalaev might have been coping with forward of UFC 320, be they bodily, psychological, or in any other case, stating that he’ll go away it to Ankalaev to touch upon.
Ankalaev issued his personal social media assertion following the struggle, which will be seen beneath.
“No matter I can do to assist him, I’ll do it,” Abdelaziz stated. “So long as I don’t insult somebody’s household, faith, or his nation. All the things Ankalaev stated on his social media, he permitted it. And if I did assist him, it was his data.”
Previous to Saturday’s loss, Ankalaev was on a 14-fight unbeaten streak (together with a draw and a no-contest). He had not misplaced since his UFC debut in 2018.
