Magomed Ankalaev claimed the sunshine heavyweight title with a unanimous determination win over Alex Pereira within the UFC 313 predominant occasion however was there any controversy with these scorecards?
Not in keeping with UFC CEO Dana White, who wasn’t precisely blown away by the motion in the course of the five-round struggle however he additionally didn’t imagine there was any sort of theft when it was over. The distinction actually got here all the way down to Ankalaev scoring a close to knockdown within the second spherical, continuously pressuring Pereira after which utilizing the clinch to manage him towards the cage to safe the victory.
“It was not what I anticipated,” White mentioned concerning the struggle in the course of the UFC 313 post-fight press convention. “I anticipated much more capturing, I anticipated much more exchanges.
“I assumed Ankalaev received the struggle. I wasn’t shocked after I heard the choice.”
Despite the fact that he was assured in Ankalaev deserving the win, White additionally acknowledged that Pereira was a fantastic champion and working it again makes numerous sense.
“In all probability [an immediate rematch],” White mentioned.
Previous to the occasion, Pereira confronted numerous questions on his exercise exterior the cage after touring to Australia to nook Sean Strickland for his struggle at UFC 312 whereas additionally sticking round for a number of promotional occasions of his personal.
UFC veterans Daniel Cormier and Matt Brown each raised issues about Pereira’s schedule and presumably being distracted main into arguably one of many hardest fights of his profession towards Ankalaev.
For his half, White can’t say for sure if Pereira was distracted main into his newest title protection however he is aware of from historical past that it’s tough for superstars to keep up the identical sort of self-discipline and dedication after reaching the highest of the mountain.
“I feel that’s a query positively for him to reply,” White mentioned about Pereira. “I positively don’t know his schedule. I do know he’s been bouncing round however you see this in all places when any person turns into a giant star, and so they begin making a lot of cash. There are many completely different doorways that open and alternatives.
“However there’s little doubt that everyone knew that Ankalaev was going to be a tricky struggle for him. Everyone knew that this was in all probability going to be the largest problem of his profession.”
Whether or not Pereira was 100-percent centered and prepared or not, White refused to decrease Ankalaev’s efficiency as a result of he put collectively a successful technique to beat “Poatan” on Saturday.
It might not have been a barnburner or immediate traditional however Ankalaev introduced the struggle to Pereira and finally handed him a unanimous determination defeat after 5 rounds within the cage collectively.
“I wouldn’t take something from Ankalaev, and the stress he placed on Alex tonight,” White mentioned. “Stored pushing ahead, even within the fifth spherical I used to be listening on the headphones and Alex’s nook was saying ‘you’ve acquired to go after him this spherical. You must let all the things go. You’ve acquired to let your fingers go. You’ve acquired to attempt to take him out.’”
