When you’re one of the winningest stars in the UFC, anything is possible. You have aspirations of gold across multiple weight classes? Dana White could make that happen. For company man Alex Pereira, this seemed like a likely trajectory. Defending his light heavyweight belt and then going for a third belt—his legacy of being the greatest combat athlete was close to being cemented. Alas, that didn’t happen, and all roads to triple champ (or boxing) greatness now seem to be closing. And now the newly minted champ Magomed decided to take shots at ‘Poatan’ in his bid to fight Jon Jones.
“I knew Alex Pereira couldn’t fight [Jon] Jones and [Tom] Aspinall, as those guys gave good wrestling and they are not small,” Magomed Ankalaev told Kolos on MMA. Thereafter, the 32-year-old also pointed out the reason why Alex Pereira has been so successful so far in the UFC, which is his personality. That sole tool has helped him make his rivals complacent to such a degree that they end up losing the contest.
Jon Jones is perhaps the most complete fighter who’s consistently delivered on every aspect of the game. With 11 knockouts and 7 submission wins, he’s proved that he can finish anyone on the ground and on the feet. The story is quite similar to Tom Aspinall, who may have more knockouts wins than submissions, but he’s got both aspects in check, and that’s where Alex Pereira lacks, according to Magomed Ankalaev.
Now, that claim may come as a surprise because Alex Pereira nullified all the newly crowned light heavyweight champ’s attempts at taking him down during their UFC 313 clash. So maybe he stands a chance against Jones and Aspinall. But Ankalaev claims that the size discrepancy between the heavyweight duo and Pereira is clear as day, and it can weigh heavily on ‘Poatan’.
The light heavyweight champion could be right about the past opponents of Alex Pereira. He stepped up without any fear and kept the pressure on ‘Poatan’ during their fight, coasting his way to a relatively comfortable, but hard-fought victory. Also, the champ beat the ex-champ in his own game. “We know Alex as a puncher, and most of his opponents were afraid of his look, his demeanor. It was affecting his opponents,” Magomed Ankalaev added.
Basically, Magomed Ankalaev said that Alex Pereira won’t do well at heavyweight. But he is not the only one who believes Pereira could come up short in the heavyweight division. Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier is in agreement with Ankalaev.
Daniel Cormier claims Alex Pereira is not ‘strong’ for a heavyweight
The loss to Magomed Ankalaev made Daniel Cormier arrive at an important conclusion. The Hall of Fame claims that Alex Pereira might just have “maxed out” when it comes to his weight class. Given that he had an underwhelming showing last weekend at light heavyweight, ‘DC’ claims that he is guaranteed to have a hard time in the division above because a bigger opponent would do a number on him.
“I don’t think he’s strong enough to go with anyone bigger. Because the amount of pressure Ankalaev was able to generate without the danger coming back at him, like we expected. Those heavyweights would kind of just walk right through what he was throwing at him,” Daniel Cormier stated on the Good Guy/Bad Guy show. Would you agree with this assessment?
Well, the heavyweight plans have taken a backseat for now, and what Alex Pereira wants is his light heavyweight title back. And guess what? Magomed Ankalaev is more than willing to hand him that opportunity. We will have to wait and see how things pan out in the coming months.
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