Dana White advised following UFC 313 that a direct rematch between new light-heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev and well-liked former champ Alex Pereira will “in all probability” be next.
The UFC president stated the five-round bout that led to a unanimous choice victory for Ankalaev was “not what I anticipated. I anticipated much more capturing. I anticipated much more exchanges.”
Ankalaev informed reporters at his post-fight press convention that he by no means picks his opponents and he’ll be pleased and able to face Pereira later this 12 months for his first title defence if that’s what the UFC presents next.
The 32-year-old from Dagestan, who’s now driving a 14-fight unbeaten streak, went 0-for-12 on takedown makes an attempt however nonetheless managed to build up 5:42 of cage management time and had first rate success hanging towards Pereira who was coming into the competition on a five-fight profitable streak and 4 straight knockouts.
Pereira started his UFC profession as a middleweight in 2021 and received the title in 2022 when he defeated Israel Adesanya, a longtime rival of the Brazilian from their kickboxing days. Adesanya received the speedy rematch by knockout 5 months later and “Poatan” moved up from the 185-pound division to the 205-pound ranks.
The 37-year-old grew to become the UFC’s ninth two-weight champion when he received the light-heavyweight title in 2023 after shifting up in weight.
Pereira launched an announcement following his second UFC loss.
“That’s it, everybody. Some marks (on my face), however I’m good,” he stated in a message on social media. “Gonna relaxation a bit. I’ll be again like I’ve all the time completed. This has already occurred. … Gonna make some changes for the rematch, and I’ll be again a lot better. You may depend on it.
Whereas the consequence was met with boos from the gang at T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas, it was extra because of the nature of the second half of the struggle quite than the ultimate choice being deemed controversial or incorrect.
One decide scored the struggle 4 rounds to at least one (49-46) for Ankalaev whereas the opposite two judges noticed it three rounds to 2 (48-47) for the brand new champ.
White added that he thought Ankalaev received the struggle and “wasn’t shocked” when he heard the choice.
Pereira had risen to No. 3 on the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings previous to the loss.
Ankalaev, who will likely quickly debut within the P4P rankings, grew to become the fourth Russian-born UFC champion becoming a member of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Petr Yan and present light-weight champion Islam Makhachev.
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