Latest news with #Poatan
USA Today
14-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Firas Zahabi: Alex Pereira went through analysis paralysis in UFC 313 title loss
Firas Zahabi thinks Magomed Ankalaev had Alex Pereira overthinking throughout the fight at UFC 313. Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) lost his light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) by unanimous decision in this past Saturday's main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Zahabi was surprised that Ankalaev failed to get Pereira to the ground, and even more surprised that he was able to win without any takedowns landed. 'It wasn't the most exciting fight, but here's what's amazing: Ankalaev outstruck him the whole fight,' Zahabi said on his YouTube channel. 'The whole fight was standing, and Ankalaev wins. But if you put these two in a kickboxing match, I think all of us would agree that Pereira wins. Pereira wasn't throwing, even though his corner was begging him to throw between rounds. … Pereira was hesitant. After Round 1, he was hesitant. He got stunned, and ever since he got stunned, he was hesitant. 'I have my idea why I think he was hesitant. One, he was worried about the takedown. He didn't want to get taken down. It was on his mind when he got stunned. Now he's worried about the striking and the takedowns. It was too much. He had to think twice before he throws, and he was like paralysis by analysis. He was trying to predict what Ankalaev was going to do. Ankalaev was more unpredictable than Pereira. Pereira, we all know what's going to come – the low kick, the knee, the left hook.' The famed Tristar Gym head coach says Pereira was highly conservative throughout the fight and never took any risks. Although 'Poatan' stuffed all 12 of Ankalaev's takedown attempts, Zahabi thinks having to be wary of it led to his tentativeness on offense. 'I think he had an off night, and he was overwhelmed maybe by the threat of wrestling, but he didn't throw much. It seemed that after he got stunned in Round 2, he just kind of got really conservative. It was crazy. It surprised everybody.' Zahabi gave his round-by-round breakdown, and says no matter how you scored the rounds, there should be no debate on the outcome. 'Round 1, Pereira did incredible,' Zahabi said. 'He was very dominant. It looked like Pereira was going to kick Ankalaev's leg out. Ankalaev was in the southpaw position. The kicks weren't as powerful, but Pereira is so experienced, it doesn't make a difference. However, the low kicks are not as powerful because he's not kicking with his power side. Still, the kicks were accumulating. Round 1 goes to Pereira. 'Round 2, Ankalaev hurts Pereira, stuns him, puts on the pressure. His corner was egging him on to put pressure and he did. Round 3, not a very super active round for either fighter, but Ankalaev kind of edged it out. I think most people gave Round 3 to Ankalaev. What can I say, Rounds 4 and 5 even for Ankalaev. I know a lot of people gave Round 3 to Pereira, OK, give him Round 3, he still loses 3-2 at best.' For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 313.
USA Today
13-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Alex Pereira's coaches think he beat Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, promise 'Poatan 2.0' in rematch
Alex Pereira's coaches disagree with the UFC 313 decision. Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) lost his light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday's UFC 313 main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Both Glover Teixeira and Plinio Cruz thought their fighter should have gotten his hand raised after managing to stuff all of Ankalaev's takedown attempts and keeping the fight on the feet. 'We had this defeat, but in my opinion he won,' Teixeira said on Pereira's YouTube channel (h/t MMA Fighting). 'He lost on points, so now we go back to the drawing board and adjust a few things, train hard and go back and get this rematch and make history. 'Poatan' has made history before, and he will make history again. He's a great warrior and I'm very proud of him.' Things are trending towards an immediate rematch between Pereira and Ankalaev, and Cruz vows a better version of his fighter. 'Life is made of ups and downs, and those ups and downs are what make us who we are on this journey to our goal,' Cruz said. 'We'll come back stronger, regroup as a team. The vibe was great this week. We have no excuses. 'Poatan' was fine, and I think he won the fight. This is a stumble, not a fall, and it will only make him stronger, our team stronger. Humans evolve more in times of adversity. Rivalries make us grow. 'It went (Ankalaev's) way this time, so we'll train more, study more, get better to deliver you a better version of 'Poatan' – more mean. What this guy's done was make it worse for him because now he'll fight 'Poatan 2.0.' It's happened to 'Poatan' before. It's not the first time, and a true champion is the one that stumbles but continues moving forward and reconquers it. 'Poatan' will reconquer the belt in the rematch. (He'll be) a more mean version, and our team will be on a level that is higher than it already is.'
USA Today
09-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Mick Maynard's Shoes: Is Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira rematch a lock after UFC 313 title change?
The first UFC title change of 2025 occurred Saturday at UFC 313 when Magomed Ankalaev dethroned Alex Pereira of the light heavyweight belt in the main event. Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) made good on his elusive shot at gold when he outpointed Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) by unanimous decision at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, marking the end of a magical 'Poatan' run atop the weight class. Given what Pereira accomplished during his reign, talk of an immediate rematch sprung up the moment UFC CEO Dana White wrapped the belt around Ankalaev's waist. Will it happen, though, or should the promotion go a different direction with its new champ? Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on the future for both Ankalaev and Pereira in the fallout of UFC 313. For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 313.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UFC 313 key takeaways: Alex Pereira couldn't find the gas pedal against Magomed Ankalaev. Now what?
The UFC has a new light heavyweight champion. Magomed Ankalaev had to wait a while for his chance, but he made the most of it with a unanimous decision victory over Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 313. But his was one of those reversals of fortune that asks as many questions as it answers. Here are the biggest takeaways from Saturday night's event in Las Vegas: 1. Pereira waited and watched — and what he saw was his title slipping away. The urgency just wasn't there for 'Poatan.' Was it Ankalaev's sneaky striking game? Was it an overabundance of concern about the threat of a takedown? Did he just simply not have it tonight, at least not the way he needed to? Maybe it was some combination of all three. The end result was that he just couldn't pull the trigger when he needed to. There was an uncharacteristic hesitation to Pereira's game in this fight. And when he should have known that he needed to pour it on to give himself a chance in the final round, he fought like he thought he was ahead on the scorecards. Pereira let this one slip away, and that's got to sting. This was always going to be a tough test for him, but it also felt like a winnable fight if only he'd just done more. Ankalaev threw more strikes than he did in every round except the first. That's not an insurmountable skill gap if it comes to a rematch. But he'll need to understand why it happened that way in order to address it. 2. If you'd told me Ankalaev would go 0-12 on takedown attempts and still win, I'd have said you should hand over your car keys because clearly you're in no shape to drive. Coming in, that's where we assumed he had the greatest advantage. To get completely blanked by Pereira in that department and snatch the belt anyway? Unthinkable. Ankalaev's wrestling in this fight was more of a pause button than a weapon. It was a way for him to slow the fight down and halt any momentum Pereira was threatening to gain. It worked for that purpose, even if it also earned him a shower of boos. How he really won the fight, though, was by pressuring Pereira in the striking exchanges. He showed no fear of Pereira's normally terrifying kickboxing game. And, except for a couple scary moments late, he mostly neutralized Pereira's best weapons. This wasn't the kind of win that adds a bunch of new fans to the bandwagon, even if it does bring yet another MMA title back to Dagestan. Ankalaev told us that 'chama' time was over, and he was right about that (for now). But that doesn't necessarily mean too many people are feeling pumped about Ankalaev time. At least not yet. 3. We keep waiting for Justin Gaethje to get old. Or tired. Or to finally show up looking worn out and depleted. It keeps not happening. Even after that knockout loss to Max Holloway last year, he looked as sharp as ever in this unanimous decision victory over Rafael Fiziev, who looked pretty good himself for a short-notice fill-in coming off knee surgery. At 36, Gaethje should have already hit the point of diminishing returns for a lightweight. That's only more true when you consider some of the battles he's been in. Still he manages to be that rare fighter who always delivers the fan-friendly fun but without sacrificing strategy and good sense to do it. You can put that man in a fight with any 155-pounder in the world and get something out of it. The only question now is which one it's going to be next. 4. The next generation of lightweights took a step forward on the undercard. Mauricio Ruffy was handed a showcase fight against King Green and capitalized on it in a major way, scoring an early knockout of the year contender via spinning wheel kick. Then later Ignacio Bahamondes pulled off a slick triangle choke submission over Jalin Turner, adding his name to the list of serious up-and-comers. Both guys are still in their twenties, with the full picture just starting to come into focus. They're also in what is historically the most talent-rich division in the sport. The matchups will only get harder from here, but there's reason to think they're both going places – and might have to meet each other along the way. 5. One thing I didn't expect to see at this event was Robbie Lawler shedding a tear. But as they played his greatest hits while announcing his forthcoming induction into the UFC Hall of Fame, the legendary tough guy had to let it out. Lawler's place in any MMA hall of fame is beyond question. But one of the most remarkable things about his incredible career was its resiliency. There was a time when he seemed like he'd never be anything more than a one-dimensional slugger who was good for the occasional knockout but a long way from anything resembling greatness. He molded himself into a complete fighter, and did it without losing any of the ferocity that made him so feared in the first place. He's a good reminder that we shouldn't assume we have the whole book on a guy just because we've seen him lose a few. The good fighters make the most of the skills they have. The great ones keep adding more while also getting smarter about how best to use it all. Seeing Lawler finally get his flowers for all that might have made me a little misty too.
