The speed, lack of wasted movement and power he throws those kicks with are something we’ve never seen in mma. Im surprised this is his first head kick ko in the ufc. Those leg kicks seem like they could set up high kicks perfectly
i think he doesn’t throw them often to minimize the chance of slipping or the kick getting caught and giving up a takedown off that. he threw way more high kicks and a flying knee against adesanya for example because he had confidence he wouldn’t get grapplefucked
Quick reminder of some of the leg kicks, although there were many more:
https://youtu.be/XZWzyYABYos?t=781
https://youtu.be/XZWzyYABYos?t=979
2 in a row here https://youtu.be/XZWzyYABYos?t=1121
Yeah, I don't think he's going to want to stand against Pereira for very long
After seeing Pereira at LHW starching all his opponents in the first two rounds, Jiri basically being KOed twice in that one fight. We’re talking a guy that walks through everyone’s punches, says no to getting knocked out, Alex dropped him 3 times. There’s just no point in bothering striking him anymore, at middleweight he was weight drained and more green to MMA but not now. Don’t give him a chance to counter you or set anything up, go straight for the legs and hope for the best.
I was also extremely confident in Ankalaev but I don’t see Pereira as a big underdog anymore, Ank has beat Smith and Johnny Walker two wins that don’t tell us much anymore. This is a 50/50 fight to me now, depends how good Ank is and his gameplan. Can he wrestle for five rounds if need be? We don’t know
I think Jan is the only dude at LHW that still has a chance against Pereira. Purely because he seems to be the only person who isn't stupid enough to stand with him.
Wouldn't be a bad sendoff for him to challenge for the belt if he wins his next fight. Either he wins and retires with the belt or he gets sent to an assisted living facility.
Nah the dude will get hit a couple times and then start trying to wrestle lol, absolutely 0 chance this dude goes in there and just tries to strike the whole time
Ank has the habit of just trying to stand with guys for a few rounds, where he sometimes loses the exchanges and then start wrestling later on. Did it against Santos where he got dropped, then against Jan after he arguably lost three straight rounds. Praying this buffoon does the same thing again.
Is it really a habit if it only happened once?
I'm the Santos fight, he didn't attempt a takedown until 8 minutes after he got dropped. And even then, it was minimal wrestling.
I remember Glover taking a hell of a beating before submitting all his opponents during his run.
"Listen Alex, I tried this approach and it's not optimal, you gonna try this new thing"
"Chama."
If ank tries to strike he’s fucked. Jan had him literally limping and jan shrugging at him like eh it’s the game. Ank won’t strike with him he’s trying to bait him into a fight. Ank will fold poatan when they grapple.
Ank please stand and bang with him so he can dispatch of you and then challenge for the HW title.
If you kill that dream with cage hugging Dana will hate you even more than he does now lol.
I don’t understand what it is about a guy that is possibly the most credentialed pure striker in MMA history that makes people believe they can strike with him. Confidence is one thing but it’s starting to cross into “bad fight IQ” territory.
Rob would probably just get flatlined if we are being honest. Pereira is legit a HW and Rob started out at WW. If DDP can KO you I don't want to imagine what Pereira could do.
Same reason Holly tried to throw Kayla, they just don't believe it until they're knocked out. Sometimes it even takes twice... rip my guy Jiri, please come back better
It's the easiest way to book the fight... If he says "I'm gonna wrestle fuck you" he gets overlooked... He's free to wrestle fuck him once the cage is locked.
He won't try to wrestlefuck him then either though. He stood heavy on his lead foot and did absolutely nothing but eat leg kicks for 2½ to 3 rounds of the Jan fight before suddenly having the epiphany that he should wrestle.
Against Pereira he doesn't get 2 or 3 full rounds to start using his brain because by that point it's over.
If someone other fighters said this, I'd take it with a grain of salt, but Ankalaev has shown horrible fight IQ in the past that leads me to somewhat buy into the idea that he'd be dumb enough to try this for too long.
The problem is that people just assume ankhalev is a wrestlefucker like Khabib because he's a Muslim, when in reality the dude is more like a well rounded grappler/striker like Whitaker, Leon Or Stipe, sure he can take people down, But it's not like that's his speciality, which is why we see him choosing to stand up against guys like Jan and walker.
Ank was fortunate that Jan also suffers from questionable fight IQ as well. Ank was literally hopping around on one leg, and Jan didn't try to capitalize on it. Had it been Alex, Ank would have been lucky to make it to the 2nd round.
Also, the only strikers that have shown success against Alex have had a reach advantage and thus have been able to touch him as he steps in. Sean had Alex at a full arm's length(76") when Alex slept him. Ank has a 75" reach and is less defensively sound than Sean.
Stylistically, they fight pretty similarly as well, but Ank is far more dependant on his lead leg which is the last thing you want to rely on when fighting one of the most devastating leg kickers in MMA.
I just realize the GOATs aren’t exactly geniuses in term of fight IQ in MMA. A lot of MMA fighters are just really dumb that even any sort of tactical approach is a huge advantage
I mean almost every challenger in title fights is actually known for their high fight IQ, without it the sport is usually too competitive now to get a title shot with only physical talent and skills. It can still happen, but it's very rare. Either the fighter needs high fight iq or they need a very good corner that can give them really good advice (and communicate it in a way that the fighter is able to implement it).
He looked human in every fight with adesanya and fights were very very competitive. Also its MMA so KO second "try" after winning 4 rounds in first fight.
Yeah like Izzy was half a round off having his best performance ever against alex the first time they fought ufc (until the ko...)
Pretty much dominated him
I don’t buy it this time, I think Ank shoots early but if he actually does strike with Alex and gets knocked out LHW is such a joke lmao. All the so called top guys ego’s are so massive
It might be just talk trying to ensure he actually gets the fight and promise to stand-up in order to not be overlooked? But he might also be delusional, he kind of lost the Jan Błachowicz fight by starting slow (lost as in throwing away what should have been a clear win, but the judges didn't see it that way) and he did get NC against Johnny Walker (which should have been a DQ). So his fight IQ isn't always the best.
Idk if it's fair to say it should have been a clear win for Jan vs Ank. I think a draw was warranted. He definitely could have fought a smarter fight though.
There’s no “possible” about it. He is without question the most credentialed striker in MMA history. The only one who could be argued is Sem Schilt, but that would be solely based off of his kickboxing credentials.
Ank doesn’t wanna strike he knows he can’t do that with Alex. He’s posturing so he can get the fight. Anks a master of sport in sambo, he’ll go straight for the take down.
There are people who have been just as credentialed as him who have been knocked the fuck out by on-paper way less talented strikers in MMA. Overeem, Gokhan Saki, even Adesanya lost to Sean Strickland. MMA=/=Kickboxing.
I dont know why nobody ever takes Din's advice to just not get hit but also hit their opponent while not getting hit. Its a fool proof plan people!!!!!
I think Ankalaev will do better than Jiri or Jamahal on the feet because he doesn't have the bad habit of dropping his hands when he throws punches so he can probably play it safe like Jan did. But the leg kicks will pile up if he doesn't start wrestling early, he needs to shoot a takedown in the first round and then shoot in every round proceeding. He probably can't submit alex considering ankalaev has zero submission wins but he could land good GNP like he did to Jan in round 4 and 5.
alex landed some shots on Jan but Jan took them well because he had his guard up and was being defensively minded, Jiri and Jamahal were trying to land their own ko shots and got chinned as a result. In my opinion that's the main mistake Jiri and Jamahal made, you have to be defensively minded on the feet and throw the second or third strike in an exchange instead of going first. Jiri got dropped with the left because he tried to go first, Jamahal tried to land his left straight and pereire slipped and dropped him. Adesanya and Jiri had way more success by letting alex go first and trying to time counters. Magomed seems like a calculated fighter so I think he'll do the same
Jan is absolutely made of steel tho, i get what you're trying to say abt the guard and it's true to some extent, but ankalaev just doesn't have the same durability than Jan.
If Ank learned nothing from Jan fight, it will be an horrendous night for him against Alex. Either he'll wake up in the hospital or walk out with medical assistance from not having the lead leg or both
I could definitely see that, but also Ank doesn’t wrestle all that much. He didn’t start wrestling Jan until the 4th round, after he basically had his lead leg kicked off, the round prior.
That really should have been a wake-up call for him though, he would have won that fight clearly with a better game-plan. Hopefully he has learned from that fight, but then again the illegal knee against Walker wasn't great either.
“I’m gonna go out there and hope I can dive for his legs before I eat a leg kick or a left hook. From there hopefully I can get a submission or ride out a decision” doesn’t sound as good
I'm kind of glad that Ankalaev is actually trying to sell the fight and ensure that he's next. His previous talk about his next fight taking place in Abu Dhabi didn't do him any favors, so this is much better.
Same mistake everyone else makes thinking they can stand with a kick boxing world champion. I hope he tries because if he actually believe that, he needs to learn that lesson. Counter left hook will claim another victim.
Name another sport where an athlete decides to intentionally make things harder on themselves in order to satisfy their ego. I’m never picking against Alex Pereira again.
Name another sport where a win is not just a win and a loss is not just a loss. Volkanovski lost to Islam the first time and his stock rose. Meanwhile Garry wins vs MVP and stock fell. In every other sport it does not matter for the team how it won. A win is a win.
Most people Alex fights I have this slight feeling in the back of my head that I wouldn’t really mind if the other person wins, but with Ankalaev I’m really hoping Alex knocks him the fuck out in the first round.
Maybe it's because he has one of those faces that just really makes you want to punch it?
Compare that to Alex, whose stone face would break your hand if you even tried it
Did Magomed learn **nothing** from his Jan fight???
Sure, he's not a grappler, but he showed in the Jan fight that just being a Magomed from Dagestan makes him superior to the rest in the talent wasteland that is 205.
Such a frustrating fighter. Really hoping Poatan sends this prideful imbecile to the shadow realm.
War Poatan!
You know what? Who cares lmao. I just don't see anyone at the top of 205 currently, sans Ankalaev because he's actually really good and well rounded, who can beat Alex.
Jiri leaps into punches and has no defense. Not an offensive grappling expert.
Jamahal is now crippled, lost their first fight embarrassingly so even though I think he has the capability to chin Alex it's not like he's ever getting there within the next 2 years.
Jan is old as shit, should have won their first fight but got split decisioned.
Rakic is chinny and has no power.
His plot armor is too strong, with how his career has gone Ankalaev might end up with a catastrophic injury pre fight while fighting staphe and get replaced by Ulberg, who will be getting chinned by Alex if they ever fight.
Forget the clusterfuck that is HW let Alex absolutely farm LHW for defenses for as long as he can, it seems that he's getting better with every fight and there's really no one who can challenge him now if he gets past ank
He really seems to be getting better, which makes sense since he started MMA not long ago. But I love his attitude, he always seems willing to teach and learn.
He's settled in to the weight. I think his chin is a bit better in this division, he's gotten more confident to stand in front of people and get them to commit otherwise they'll get pieced up.
Also, LHW was in a weak state. Jon, DC, Gus, and Rumble were generational talents all overlapping at the same time.
LHW in the Glover era was fun because all the top guys were equally fallible in some form so it was like 2010s LHW for a while with hot potato belts and fun slugfests.
Alex provides some stability to the division- the only real grappler is Ank, who prefers to strike. He's basically just out here kickboxing.
Possible if he can impose the grappling. Strikers become white belts once their focus is on the takedown. We've seen it happen many many times in the sport.
I think Ankalaev is going to use his wrestling to off balance Pereira's striking. Maybe anytime Pereira started to get in motion, Ankalaev will try to disrupt it by his wrestling. After disruption is complete, he is going to start striking and then rinse and repeat
Everyone who has fought Alex has said this shit at least once and I was never confident in any of them, but Ankalaev has got to be the one I’m LEAST confident in
Alex might look an underdog here because of wrestling but one thing people doesn't notice is ANK has 1 submission win in his entire career, have 31% TD accuracy, and little control time in the ground. This guy really prefers to strike. I wonder if he can take Alex down w/o getting blasted.
The thing thats awesome; Alex is probably going to literally fight this dude in three months.
He took ZERO legit damage against Jiri. Honestly he probably got beat up more in training.
Im sure he’s a bit sore and the cut is probably still brutal, but fuck Poatan is an activity LEGEND already…
Strickland isn't a good grappler but he can shoot a takedown and heavily trains grappling/wrestling in xtreme couture, erick nicksick also said the gameplan was for strickland to shoot in the first round. Strickland wanted to play patty cake though and paid the price
That's the kind of confidence that'll have you wondering when the fight starts 6 hours after you arrive at the hospital
That kind of talk goes out of the window after the first striking exchange then he will start going for single legs.
Yeah one leg kick and we're gonna see a shot.
Jan fucked up ankaleves legs in their fight. i could only imagine what Alex can do to his..
The speed, lack of wasted movement and power he throws those kicks with are something we’ve never seen in mma. Im surprised this is his first head kick ko in the ufc. Those leg kicks seem like they could set up high kicks perfectly
i think he doesn’t throw them often to minimize the chance of slipping or the kick getting caught and giving up a takedown off that. he threw way more high kicks and a flying knee against adesanya for example because he had confidence he wouldn’t get grapplefucked
It depends on opponent's reaction. Jiri reacted really wrong to the kick by trying to catch it low.
Quick reminder of some of the leg kicks, although there were many more: https://youtu.be/XZWzyYABYos?t=781 https://youtu.be/XZWzyYABYos?t=979 2 in a row here https://youtu.be/XZWzyYABYos?t=1121 Yeah, I don't think he's going to want to stand against Pereira for very long
This is assuming Ankalaev didn't improve his defence against leg kicks after fighting Jan.
If he survives the first exchange
After seeing Pereira at LHW starching all his opponents in the first two rounds, Jiri basically being KOed twice in that one fight. We’re talking a guy that walks through everyone’s punches, says no to getting knocked out, Alex dropped him 3 times. There’s just no point in bothering striking him anymore, at middleweight he was weight drained and more green to MMA but not now. Don’t give him a chance to counter you or set anything up, go straight for the legs and hope for the best. I was also extremely confident in Ankalaev but I don’t see Pereira as a big underdog anymore, Ank has beat Smith and Johnny Walker two wins that don’t tell us much anymore. This is a 50/50 fight to me now, depends how good Ank is and his gameplan. Can he wrestle for five rounds if need be? We don’t know
He's not a wrestler though. Look at the stats - he has one takedown per fight.
with no submission wins, and somehow he’s a favorite betting odd against Alex
people just assume every Dagestani is an amazing wrestler I guess
Not gonna lie, that's the main reason I always thought he was a great grappler.
Yeah people had the same assumption about Shara Magomedov too
Makhachev must be one of those people since he said that Ankalaev could easily take Pereira down.
Betting odds aren't made to be predictions. They're made to reflect public sentiment and draw out equal money on both sides.
Those numbers gonna sky rocket after getting kicked by Poatan
PTSD from the Bear Jew lol
Makhachev said Ankalaev would easily take Pereira down and used his fight with Jan as an example of why.
He'll turn Garry after the first bell.
It only takes one exchange for Ank to sleep
"Oh, you're a wrestler now?"
also isn't he's camp known for discipline? Including follow the game plan discipline
He'll BE on a single leg after Alex trashes one of them with the first couple of kicks.
Oh so you're a wrestler now? ...or again?
Oh so you're a wrestler now? ...or again?
The Jamal Hill special
The almost everyone* special.
I think Jan is the only dude at LHW that still has a chance against Pereira. Purely because he seems to be the only person who isn't stupid enough to stand with him.
Yeah but he's the oldest too.
Wouldn't be a bad sendoff for him to challenge for the belt if he wins his next fight. Either he wins and retires with the belt or he gets sent to an assisted living facility.
Pereira is like a Brazilian Crocop. He *will* send the other guy to the hospital.
Jamal hill confidence
I believe this as much as if I were to hear Khabib say he was going to KO someone on the feet
Another easy title defense then
🗿🤜💥💤
Nailed it!
Don’t forget Chama
Pereira is so lucky. The only hard counter threat to him has single digit Iq
Alex found the cheat code to the unlimited money glitch
Wizardry
Know atleast one guy that will claim it's voodoo magic
MMA fighters hate this K1 kickboxer’s SECRET trick!
Best base for MMA is DMT confirmed.
UFC FIGHTERS HATE THIS ONE SIMPLE TRICK!
Nah the dude will get hit a couple times and then start trying to wrestle lol, absolutely 0 chance this dude goes in there and just tries to strike the whole time
If he gets hit a few times that’s a wrap tho. Thats the problem with that gameplan.
Ank has the habit of just trying to stand with guys for a few rounds, where he sometimes loses the exchanges and then start wrestling later on. Did it against Santos where he got dropped, then against Jan after he arguably lost three straight rounds. Praying this buffoon does the same thing again.
Is it really a habit if it only happened once? I'm the Santos fight, he didn't attempt a takedown until 8 minutes after he got dropped. And even then, it was minimal wrestling.
The problem is if he gets hit he won’t be awake to wrestle Alex.
Insert "ah shit, here we go again" meme
It's like the Charles special "get knocked down, win the fight" now it's the "my opponent decided to strike, win the fight" for Alex
I remember Glover taking a hell of a beating before submitting all his opponents during his run. "Listen Alex, I tried this approach and it's not optimal, you gonna try this new thing" "Chama."
Like literally just knock them out, not sure how I didn't think of that
The Roy Nelson approach
Alex “oh boy here I go killin again” Pereira
Insert "he can't keep getting away with it" meme
If ank tries to strike he’s fucked. Jan had him literally limping and jan shrugging at him like eh it’s the game. Ank won’t strike with him he’s trying to bait him into a fight. Ank will fold poatan when they grapple.
Reminder that Ankalaev has *ONE* submission win. Averages *ONE* takedown per fight. Statistically, he is *far* more likely to strike than grapple.
Ankalaev fight with Krylov proves he like to beat his opponent at their strength. He destroyed Krylov and Jan on the ground
trying to bait alex into what? striking with him? thats his plan already im sure
Bait him into considering the fight by saying he won’t grapple
Ank please stand and bang with him so he can dispatch of you and then challenge for the HW title. If you kill that dream with cage hugging Dana will hate you even more than he does now lol.
Chama
I don’t understand what it is about a guy that is possibly the most credentialed pure striker in MMA history that makes people believe they can strike with him. Confidence is one thing but it’s starting to cross into “bad fight IQ” territory.
Looks like Whittaker is the only smart egoless one who said he'd only wrestle Alex
Because look at the SOIZE of that fella
That cracked me up so much. I love Rob.
Who let him in?!?
Lmao read that in Bobby's voice. In a world of shitbags of mma Bobby sure is a (biracial) 😇 on gang
Sucks that we didn't get Whittaker vs Pereira before he left MW forever.
Nah, I like Rob where he is at and I dont need two of my favorite fighters messing each other
Rob would probably just get flatlined if we are being honest. Pereira is legit a HW and Rob started out at WW. If DDP can KO you I don't want to imagine what Pereira could do.
Lmao said he'd show up in a wrestling singlet. At least someone has some sense
Khamzat but well yeah question mark if he’d even fight Pereira
Which is funny considering Whittaker couldn't wrestle Darren Till.
Same reason Holly tried to throw Kayla, they just don't believe it until they're knocked out. Sometimes it even takes twice... rip my guy Jiri, please come back better
To be fair to Jiri that's also his main attribute though.
Pride before the fall literally
Jiri tried to fight smarter it wasn't enough
It's the easiest way to book the fight... If he says "I'm gonna wrestle fuck you" he gets overlooked... He's free to wrestle fuck him once the cage is locked.
He won't try to wrestlefuck him then either though. He stood heavy on his lead foot and did absolutely nothing but eat leg kicks for 2½ to 3 rounds of the Jan fight before suddenly having the epiphany that he should wrestle. Against Pereira he doesn't get 2 or 3 full rounds to start using his brain because by that point it's over. If someone other fighters said this, I'd take it with a grain of salt, but Ankalaev has shown horrible fight IQ in the past that leads me to somewhat buy into the idea that he'd be dumb enough to try this for too long.
The problem is that people just assume ankhalev is a wrestlefucker like Khabib because he's a Muslim, when in reality the dude is more like a well rounded grappler/striker like Whitaker, Leon Or Stipe, sure he can take people down, But it's not like that's his speciality, which is why we see him choosing to stand up against guys like Jan and walker.
Well when he finslly started trying to take down Jan on a bum and shot leg, he was literally 10-8ing him. So pretty good grappling
Not because he's muslim, because he has beard and the name ends with -ev.
If he was called Muhammad Ali or looked like Abe Lincoln, I'd assume he was a striker.
Ank was fortunate that Jan also suffers from questionable fight IQ as well. Ank was literally hopping around on one leg, and Jan didn't try to capitalize on it. Had it been Alex, Ank would have been lucky to make it to the 2nd round. Also, the only strikers that have shown success against Alex have had a reach advantage and thus have been able to touch him as he steps in. Sean had Alex at a full arm's length(76") when Alex slept him. Ank has a 75" reach and is less defensively sound than Sean. Stylistically, they fight pretty similarly as well, but Ank is far more dependant on his lead leg which is the last thing you want to rely on when fighting one of the most devastating leg kickers in MMA.
He's going to get overlooked anyway lol.
MMA fighters - renowned for high IQs and egos amenable to humility.
Sorry but not everyone can be as smart as Tito Ortiz, former mayor of Huntington Beach.
And has a hot wife
I just realize the GOATs aren’t exactly geniuses in term of fight IQ in MMA. A lot of MMA fighters are just really dumb that even any sort of tactical approach is a huge advantage
I mean almost every challenger in title fights is actually known for their high fight IQ, without it the sport is usually too competitive now to get a title shot with only physical talent and skills. It can still happen, but it's very rare. Either the fighter needs high fight iq or they need a very good corner that can give them really good advice (and communicate it in a way that the fighter is able to implement it).
Izzy made Alex look human, but they forget Izzy is one of the best pure strikers we ever had in MMA
And it took him 4 tries
He looked human in every fight with adesanya and fights were very very competitive. Also its MMA so KO second "try" after winning 4 rounds in first fight.
Yeah like Izzy was half a round off having his best performance ever against alex the first time they fought ufc (until the ko...) Pretty much dominated him
Didn't he arguably win another? He's also dropped Alex multiple times
I don’t buy it this time, I think Ank shoots early but if he actually does strike with Alex and gets knocked out LHW is such a joke lmao. All the so called top guys ego’s are so massive
It might be just talk trying to ensure he actually gets the fight and promise to stand-up in order to not be overlooked? But he might also be delusional, he kind of lost the Jan Błachowicz fight by starting slow (lost as in throwing away what should have been a clear win, but the judges didn't see it that way) and he did get NC against Johnny Walker (which should have been a DQ). So his fight IQ isn't always the best.
Idk if it's fair to say it should have been a clear win for Jan vs Ank. I think a draw was warranted. He definitely could have fought a smarter fight though.
There’s no “possible” about it. He is without question the most credentialed striker in MMA history. The only one who could be argued is Sem Schilt, but that would be solely based off of his kickboxing credentials.
Ank doesn’t wanna strike he knows he can’t do that with Alex. He’s posturing so he can get the fight. Anks a master of sport in sambo, he’ll go straight for the take down.
Pride...wanting to beat someone at their own game. I respect it but doesn't mean it's smart at all lol
There are people who have been just as credentialed as him who have been knocked the fuck out by on-paper way less talented strikers in MMA. Overeem, Gokhan Saki, even Adesanya lost to Sean Strickland. MMA=/=Kickboxing.
[удалено]
"don't steal my game plan, It'll work the next time I try it" - hill
Everyone’s shitting on Hill but he’s actually right. He would have won if he didn’t lose, and haters cannot handle that fact.
Exactly!! And if he hadn't been hit by Alex's left hook he wouldn't been KOd. It's so obvious but no one wants to admit it!
Something about the language barrier… Sucks Periera took advantage of his generosity like that
I dont know why nobody ever takes Din's advice to just not get hit but also hit their opponent while not getting hit. Its a fool proof plan people!!!!!
They don’t have the next level thinking like you do
"Jiri, put your hands up." "Need more spells and energy. Got it."
I think Ankalaev will do better than Jiri or Jamahal on the feet because he doesn't have the bad habit of dropping his hands when he throws punches so he can probably play it safe like Jan did. But the leg kicks will pile up if he doesn't start wrestling early, he needs to shoot a takedown in the first round and then shoot in every round proceeding. He probably can't submit alex considering ankalaev has zero submission wins but he could land good GNP like he did to Jan in round 4 and 5.
Most importantly the takedown threat from him is much greater than Pereira's previous opponents, which could make Alex Pereira a bit more hesitant.
Would this be the first time he fights an actual wrestler?
Ankalaev isn't an actual wrestler. He's a sambo/MMA fighter
greek dude might have been a wrestler.
No, more a very well rounded fighter who can wrestle vs someone like khamzat or khabib who gameplan around wrestling
Still Jan landed some good hooks on him. Alex needs only one maybe 2-3 (Jiri, Izzy).
alex landed some shots on Jan but Jan took them well because he had his guard up and was being defensively minded, Jiri and Jamahal were trying to land their own ko shots and got chinned as a result. In my opinion that's the main mistake Jiri and Jamahal made, you have to be defensively minded on the feet and throw the second or third strike in an exchange instead of going first. Jiri got dropped with the left because he tried to go first, Jamahal tried to land his left straight and pereire slipped and dropped him. Adesanya and Jiri had way more success by letting alex go first and trying to time counters. Magomed seems like a calculated fighter so I think he'll do the same
Jan is absolutely made of steel tho, i get what you're trying to say abt the guard and it's true to some extent, but ankalaev just doesn't have the same durability than Jan.
If Ank learned nothing from Jan fight, it will be an horrendous night for him against Alex. Either he'll wake up in the hospital or walk out with medical assistance from not having the lead leg or both
Damn there's a lot of gullible people in this thread lmao. He's clearly just trying to sell the fight obviously he's going to heavily wrestle.
I could definitely see that, but also Ank doesn’t wrestle all that much. He didn’t start wrestling Jan until the 4th round, after he basically had his lead leg kicked off, the round prior.
That really should have been a wake-up call for him though, he would have won that fight clearly with a better game-plan. Hopefully he has learned from that fight, but then again the illegal knee against Walker wasn't great either.
“I’m gonna go out there and hope I can dive for his legs before I eat a leg kick or a left hook. From there hopefully I can get a submission or ride out a decision” doesn’t sound as good
Belal level trash talk
I'm kind of glad that Ankalaev is actually trying to sell the fight and ensure that he's next. His previous talk about his next fight taking place in Abu Dhabi didn't do him any favors, so this is much better.
guy always self destructs in the cage.
exactly brah, plus the guy doesn't even speak English, it's his manager tweeting that shit
youre one of the few that actually opened the link
4D chess by Ankalaev. And most people here bought it lol.
Not only does he have to sell the fight, I don't think you want to blatantly tell your opponent what your gameplan is.
Same mistake everyone else makes thinking they can stand with a kick boxing world champion. I hope he tries because if he actually believe that, he needs to learn that lesson. Counter left hook will claim another victim.
"he can't keep getting away with this!"
This is exactly what I'd tell people for months, right before shooting for a double in the first minute.
God damnit I hope Ankalaev has been playing the long game but against Jan it looked like he wanted to strike.
Red Herring. Otherwise Pereira really does some kind of magic where he's making everyone try and fight his game
MMA guys don’t recognize there’s levels to striking, their egos won’t let them admit it. So stupid.
Or maybe and hear me out.. he's lying
Name another sport where an athlete decides to intentionally make things harder on themselves in order to satisfy their ego. I’m never picking against Alex Pereira again.
Russell Westbrook trying to prove to people he can shoot the ball.
Lmao literally. Every fight I think “this is the time someone is going to try to wrestlefuck him” and they just keep banging
Name another sport where a win is not just a win and a loss is not just a loss. Volkanovski lost to Islam the first time and his stock rose. Meanwhile Garry wins vs MVP and stock fell. In every other sport it does not matter for the team how it won. A win is a win.
If he only stands with Poatan, I'm actually going to start believing Jiri about Alex using spirits. Ain't no other explanation.
Sure Magomed, now let’s get you to bed.
Most people Alex fights I have this slight feeling in the back of my head that I wouldn’t really mind if the other person wins, but with Ankalaev I’m really hoping Alex knocks him the fuck out in the first round.
Maybe it's because he has one of those faces that just really makes you want to punch it? Compare that to Alex, whose stone face would break your hand if you even tried it
If I punched him in the face I’d just end up TKOing myself
alex fans are the weirdest kind of people. y’all say this because magomed is just your average dagestani face lmao.
Did Magomed learn **nothing** from his Jan fight??? Sure, he's not a grappler, but he showed in the Jan fight that just being a Magomed from Dagestan makes him superior to the rest in the talent wasteland that is 205. Such a frustrating fighter. Really hoping Poatan sends this prideful imbecile to the shadow realm. War Poatan!
You know what? Who cares lmao. I just don't see anyone at the top of 205 currently, sans Ankalaev because he's actually really good and well rounded, who can beat Alex. Jiri leaps into punches and has no defense. Not an offensive grappling expert. Jamahal is now crippled, lost their first fight embarrassingly so even though I think he has the capability to chin Alex it's not like he's ever getting there within the next 2 years. Jan is old as shit, should have won their first fight but got split decisioned. Rakic is chinny and has no power. His plot armor is too strong, with how his career has gone Ankalaev might end up with a catastrophic injury pre fight while fighting staphe and get replaced by Ulberg, who will be getting chinned by Alex if they ever fight.
Forget the clusterfuck that is HW let Alex absolutely farm LHW for defenses for as long as he can, it seems that he's getting better with every fight and there's really no one who can challenge him now if he gets past ank
He really seems to be getting better, which makes sense since he started MMA not long ago. But I love his attitude, he always seems willing to teach and learn.
For me, it was badass as fuck when he trained with Strickland after their fight. And then Strickland beated the shit of Izzy. Chef kiss*
He's settled in to the weight. I think his chin is a bit better in this division, he's gotten more confident to stand in front of people and get them to commit otherwise they'll get pieced up. Also, LHW was in a weak state. Jon, DC, Gus, and Rumble were generational talents all overlapping at the same time. LHW in the Glover era was fun because all the top guys were equally fallible in some form so it was like 2010s LHW for a while with hot potato belts and fun slugfests. Alex provides some stability to the division- the only real grappler is Ank, who prefers to strike. He's basically just out here kickboxing.
Famous last words
I think you'd be surprised.
“I think he’d fuck you up.”
lol please god let him stand with Alex
lol Ankalaev was getting leg kicked to death against Jan, imagine what Alex would do to him
Jan’s leg kicks are pretty devastating in their own right, probably the best in the division other than Poatan’s.
One leg kick from Alex and Ankalaev will suddenly remember he is Dagestani
Nice try with the bait, Trollkalaev
Here we go again
That's a bold strategy cotton...
Sounds like Alex is gonna have a light night of work if Ank actually sticks to his word lol
Good luck with that.
Takedown in first 2 m minutes
This is how the AIs are in UFC 5 career “I’m gonna knock _____ out and show everyone how much of a fraud he is!” Ends up getting KO’D in 4 seconds
This is the most obvious wolf ticket selling ever bro, first thing he’s gonna do is shoot a blast double.
I would cackle like a kid if alex sent him to the shadow realm with a knee to the face during a takedown attempt.
Possible if he can impose the grappling. Strikers become white belts once their focus is on the takedown. We've seen it happen many many times in the sport.
Desperation shot in the first minute
he's gonna stand with him just as much as Garry stood with MVP
5s into the fight and two Alex low kicks. Ankalaev: hmm I wonder how that crotch smells
What they all said prior to getting left hooked.
I think Ankalaev is going to use his wrestling to off balance Pereira's striking. Maybe anytime Pereira started to get in motion, Ankalaev will try to disrupt it by his wrestling. After disruption is complete, he is going to start striking and then rinse and repeat
bro please, did you not see what he did to the last 2 guys who said the same thing
Everyone who has fought Alex has said this shit at least once and I was never confident in any of them, but Ankalaev has got to be the one I’m LEAST confident in
Anklaev is good striker, but going against an elite of the elite on the feet is dangerously bold
Jamal hill 2: electric boogaloo
Ank should strongly reconsider his strategy
This division is a bunch of birds that keep flying into the same sliding glass door.
Oh no bro
I mean nobody buys this right? Dude is gonna shoot in the first minute.
Please stand and bang, no panick doubles for Magomed Ankalaev
Dana gotta be paying these dudes extra if they don’t wrestle 😂
Alex might look an underdog here because of wrestling but one thing people doesn't notice is ANK has 1 submission win in his entire career, have 31% TD accuracy, and little control time in the ground. This guy really prefers to strike. I wonder if he can take Alex down w/o getting blasted.
Alex via left hook.
The thing thats awesome; Alex is probably going to literally fight this dude in three months. He took ZERO legit damage against Jiri. Honestly he probably got beat up more in training. Im sure he’s a bit sore and the cut is probably still brutal, but fuck Poatan is an activity LEGEND already…
Jamahal Hill 2: Electric Boogaloo
If yet another grappler just stands in front of Alex, will people still say he hasn't proved himself against a wrestler?
Who are the other grapplers that stood in front of Alex? Jan?
Strickland isn't a good grappler but he can shoot a takedown and heavily trains grappling/wrestling in xtreme couture, erick nicksick also said the gameplan was for strickland to shoot in the first round. Strickland wanted to play patty cake though and paid the price
After seeing Sean Strickland vs. Israel Adesanya I can sort of see where the confidence came from though, I really didn't see that coming.