If UFC gentle heavyweight champion Alex Pereira beats Magomed Ankalaev on Saturday, many consider he’ll make the transfer out of the 205-pound division as much as heavyweight however may he be eyeing a transfer again right down to middleweight as an alternative?
Pereira defends his title in opposition to Ankalaev in the primary occasion of UFC 313 this Saturday at T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas. UFC lead play-by-play commentator Jon Anik has watched Pereira’s unbelievable rise to successful titles in two totally different divisions, and when requested if this might be the ultimate gentle heavyweight look for “Poatan,” Anik says a transfer out of sunshine heavyweight doesn’t essentially assure leaping up a division.
“I believe it relies upon upon how the battle goes,” Anik informed MMA Preventing. “If Magomed Ankalaev beats Alex Pereira to 50-45, and dominates him over 25 minutes, that wouldn’t lay the inspiration for a rematch as a lot as, say, a fast Ankalaev knockout, as a result of ‘Poatan’ has established a lot goodwill with the fan base, with the promotion, and also you parlay that with the truth that there aren’t a whole lot of apparent gentle heavyweight contenders proper now — you bought Jamahal Hill preventing Khalil Rountree, proper? However are you gonna do Ankalaev versus Bogdan Guskov proper now. I’m unsure you’re going to do this.
“The one factor that I’ll say, Alex Pereira can nonetheless make middleweight, and he needs to battle Dricus du Plessis. He didn’t defend the UFC middleweight championship. Of all of the accolades for the long run UFC Corridor of Famer Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira, he by no means defended the middleweight championship, and for those who assume for a second that he doesn’t have an urge for food, no pun supposed, to return right down to 185 [pound], you’re completely loopy. And if the calendar doesn’t align for him to problem Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall within the heavyweight division, I don’t assume he’s going stick round at 205 to battle Bogdan Guskov, despite the fact that you and I f*cking love the man. He’s most likely going attempt to go right down to 185 and battle Dricus du Plessis.
“Now, Khamzat Chimaev goes to have a say in all of that, however I don’t assume it’s out of the realm of risk that it’s middleweight, proper? As a result of he’s that disciplined, and even this week, when he was requested about it, the primary identify on the tip of his tongue shouldn’t be Jon Jones, it’s Dricus du Plessis.”
Coming off of an unbelievable 2024 the place Pereira went 3-0 with three vicious knockouts, former UFC fighters akin to Daniel Cormier and Matt Brown had questions in regards to the champion’s self-discipline, or if he’s been too distracted with different out-of-the-octagon actions main into — what many consider — is Pereira’s hardest check to this point in Ankalaev.
Anik doesn’t fairly see issues the identical approach, as a result of with regards to Saturday, the issues doubtlessly lie with the opponent standing in entrance of Pereira.
“Yeah, it’s a fantastic query, however I simply don’t see that vulnerability,” Anik mentioned. “I actually assume it’s a lot ado about nothing. This is likely one of the hardest staff within the sport, and anybody who watched Embedded or the UFC Countdown present, you see the true connective tissue he has with all of those males within the nice state of Connecticut. There may be an simple bond between these people, and whether or not he’s in Sydney, Australia making $1 million doing appearances 3 weeks earlier than the battle, or coaching within the snow in Danbury, Conn., this man is placing within the work.
“I believe the larger problem may simply be the opponent, that he’s simply preventing a man that has the abilities to increase him and doubtlessly beat him. However I don’t fear about Plinio Cruz and Glover Teixeira and that workforce getting him prepared. I believe the one window of vulnerability, for lack of a greater strategy to put it, is simply that he could be preventing the most effective man he’s fought on this gentle heavyweight division.”
