Light heavyweight case: Ankalaev does not intend to give a rematch to the formidable Pereira

On October 5, early in the morning Moscow time, the Russian UFC light heavyweight champion (up to 93 kg) Magomed Ankalaev will have a rematch with Brazilian Alex Pereira. The fight will take place in Las Vegas at the UFC 320 tournament. The chances of the Russian fighter to win against Pereira again are in the Izvestia article.

Without wide publicity

Ankalaev and Pereira's first fight took place on March 9, in Vegas, and ended with a fair victory for the Dagestani by unanimous decision. Ankalaev became the first Russian to take the UFC title from the reigning champion. Both Khabib Nurmagomedov, Peter Yan, and Islam Makhachev took vacant belts, and Oleg Taktarov won the UFC 6 eight tournament, which did not yet have regular titles back in 1995.

Moreover, that fight with Pereira was Ankalaev's second title match. In December 2022, he fought for the belt (by the way, vacant) with Pole Jan Blachowicz, and then the belt was left without a master - the fight ended in a draw. Ankalaev was outraged by the judges' verdict, criticized the UFC, and it took him two more years and two victories (over Johnny Walker and Alexander Rakic) to get the title again.

Pereira is an elite kickboxer, a formidable knockout. After joining the UFC as the champion of the Glory kickboxing league, he first became the middleweight champion (although he was knocked out in a fight with Israel Adesanya, whom he had previously defeated in the UFC and twice in kickboxing), and then in the light heavyweight. Despite his inability to speak English, the Brazilian has become quite a big star thanks to his knockouts, brutal appearance and demeanor.

The last fight was one of the most intriguing fights: what will Ankalaev show in a duel with a high-class striker, the owner of the most crushing left hook in MMA? As a result, Magomed beat Pereira in the stand and was deservedly recognized by the judges as the winner. However, even though Ankalaev defeated the MMA star and won the title fight, his success was clearly not publicized. Probably, the fact is that the fight turned out to be unremarkable, and Ankalaev himself is a very modest guy. Yes, his Twitter is filled with angry messages, but they are not written by Magomed, but by his manager Ali Abdel-Aziz.

Shanghai Tiger: Russian Sergey Pavlovich strengthens his position in the UFC

The fighter has won his second victory in a row and may get a rematch with his compatriot Alexander Volkov.

Two advantages

And before the second fight, there was a conflict between Ankalaev and Pereira, precisely because of Abdel—Aziz's tweets. First, the Brazilian teased the Russian champion on social media, and then they met in reality — at the UFC Performance Institute. Moreover, the conversation was initiated by Ankalaev, who did not like Pereira's statement: the Brazilian accused Magomed of cowardice because he was allegedly afraid to leave the massage room, so as not to cross paths with him.

The conversation between Ankalaev and Pereira in the lobby of UFC PI looked rather comical, as they communicated through a Google translator.

It all came down to why Alex decided that Magomed was afraid of him. "The girl told me about it," the Brazilian replied. "What girl?! They just gave me a massage there!" the Dagestani was indignant.

At one point, Pereira approached Ankalaev and said (again with the help of a Google translator) provocatively: "I want to hit you, slap you in the face!"

But Magomed did not escalate, answering as calmly as possible: "October 4 fight, let's do it in the ring, why say empty words." The fighters dispersed because Ankalaev smiled, said loudly, "No, Shama," and left. "Shama" is Pereira's trademark word, his calling card along with knockouts and a stone face.

If we talk about the chances, Ankalaev is the favorite. Firstly, in the first fight, he beat Pereira in a stand-up position. I didn't drop it, I didn't beat it up, but I hit it more often and looked more inventive. And Magomed is really creative in MMA — he can work in two stances, he doesn't throw punches in the air, but tries to pin him to the cage and hit for sure. Ankalaev's best shot is a straight left. He shook him and Pereira — it was the most poignant moment of their first fight. Now the Brazilian says that in the first fight he showed only 40% of his potential, but this seems to be an exaggeration. It's just that it's very difficult to work with Ankalaev in a stand-up position, to adapt to his style, to his pace.

The waist plan: what awaits Peter Yan after another victory in the UFC

Bullet Ball beat Marc-Andre Barrio and moved closer to the championship fight

Secondly, Ankalaev has an attacking fight. Yes, in March he was unable to transfer the Brazilian and control him, but according to some information, Magomed paid little attention to wrestling in the camp before that fight. Surely he drew conclusions from this.

Ankalaev does not intend to stop at the light heavyweight title. According to him, if he defeats Pereira, he will hold at most two more fights in the category up to 93 kg.

"Heavy weight? This is definitely part of my plans for the future. I gain weight easily after fights and weigh around 110 kg between fights. Right now, I'm focused on protecting the belt. Perhaps I will make one or two more defenses, but after that I will definitely be transferred to another division," Ankalaev quotes the New York Post.

Ankalaev and Pereira's fight will be the main event at UFC 320. Merab Dvalishvili and Corey Sandhagen will meet in the co-main event.