Alex Pereira is champion once more after a blistering efficiency that noticed him stroll via Magomed Ankalaev in simply 80 seconds within the UFC 320 primary occasion.
It was a shocking turnaround from their earlier encounter the place Pereira struggled to actually get any offense going and Ankalaev finally outworked him to earn a choice win. This time, Pereira determined to only to go on the assault from the leap as he marched throughout the cage and simply began unloading strikes on the Russian.
A devastating proper hand from Pereira slipped via Ankalaev’s protection and it despatched him crashing to the canvas in a heap.
Pereira adopted him to the bottom the place he began unloading punches, hammer fists and ultimately some actually devastating 12-to-6 elbows simply coming straight up and down on Ankalaev’s head, which pressured referee Herb Dean to rescue him from additional hurt. Again on his toes, Pereira did his traditional celebration as if saying look what I simply did and it solely took him 1:20 into the struggle to get the knockout and reclaim his mild heavyweight title.
“Vengeance is rarely a superb factor,” Pereira mentioned about his efficiency. “It’s form of a poison typically. I advised everybody I used to be not in a superb situation final time. No one believed it. You noticed it.
“It didn’t shock me [the fight played out that way]. I don’t wish to make excuses however I wasn’t nicely that evening. I’m nicely tonight.”
Given the best way the struggle performed out, it’s exhausting to argue with Pereira’s evaluation as a result of Ankalaev simply by no means received something going earlier than he was on the bottom consuming photographs and simply making an attempt to outlive. It was a outstanding displaying from Pereira as he simply overwhelmed Ankalaev from the primary second of the struggle till the final.
Following his win with the UFC title again round his waist, Pereira revealed he truly had a post-fight speech deliberate — maybe a callout for his subsequent struggle — however he finally determined to make use of his time on the interview to pay homage to Jon Jones’ brother Arthur Jones, who died immediately at simply 39 years previous on Friday.
“I had an entire speech ready tonight,” Pereira mentioned. “I talked to me group however We received some information lately, one thing occurred, so I need to give my respect to Jon Jones and his complete household and I need to ask everybody right here and everybody at house to take a second of silence for his brother.”
It was an unbelievably elegant transfer from Pereira, who re-established himself as probably the most dominant drive at 205 kilos whereas reminding the whole world that even he was able to having an off evening earlier than dismantling Ankalaev in below two minutes when he was at his greatest.
So far as what’s truly subsequent for him, Jiri Prochazka scored a devastating knockout win over Khalil Rountree Jr at UFC 320 however he already has two losses to Pereira. In order that seemingly leaves Carlos Ulberg off his fast win over Dominick Reyes at UFC Perth however maybe Pereira has different concepts in thoughts involving Jones however opted to not make that callout after the previous heavyweight and light-weight heavyweight champion suffered such a tragedy this week.
