Who’s next for Alex Pereira after beating Magomed Ankalaev?
MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn plays matchmaker and looks ahead to what makes sense for Alex Pereira in this edition of “Sean Shelby’s Shoes.”
Daniel Cormier isn’t ruling Magomed Ankalaev out of the light heavyweight title picture despite his underwhelming championship reign coming to an end at UFC 320.
Although he held the belt since a unanimous decision win over Pereira (13-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) at UFC 313 in March, his time as a defending champion lasted only 80 seconds of cage time after Ankalaev (21-2-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) suffered a first-round TKO defeat to “Poatan” on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Cormier was calling the fight from cageside with Jon Anik and Joe Rogan when Ankalaev’s 14-fight unbeaten streak was brought to an abrupt end in his first career defeat by strikes. The Russian has never lost in such a manner, but Cormier expects him to rebound strongly because he doesn’t think other contenders can pull off what Pereira did.
“Magomed Ankalaev is going to have to go home and answer some questions about himself,” Cormier said in his UFC 320 reaction video on YouTube. “What does he have to do if he gets himself back to this opportunity? Because he will. Most guys can’t deal with Ankalaev. So he’s going to have to figure out what he needs to do to try to change that. After what happened, I think Pereira would try to fight him in the same way (in a trilogy).”
What seems quite certain is that Ankalaev will have to work his way back to that trilogy bout. What that looks like is anyone’s guess, but there are a number of top-ranked contenders he has yet to face that could build his way back.
For Pereira’s side, he will move on to other business. Could it be another fight with Jiri Prochazka, who knocked out Khalil Rountree Jr. earlier in the night, or perhaps Carlos Ulberg, who is riding a nine-fight winning streak? Whoever it is, Cormier said it will be the next chapter in a truly unique UFC career.
“What he did against Magomed Ankalaev is so impressive because of how good Ankalaev is,” Cormier said. “There are so many cliches like, ‘The younger guy wins the rematch, as you get older, you’re not as good.’ Especially when you’re fighting a guy who became the champion, who is supposed to be better in the rematch, especially if he’s younger. Pereira doesn’t pay any attention to that type of stuff. He’s just a special type of talent, a special type of guy.
“This guy has had 12 UFC fights, nine of them have been for UFC championships. He’s still less than four years on the UFC roster. He’s a sure-fire Hall of Famer, he has won belts three times. I think the most important factor about how dominant he is, and how daunting a task it is to fight him, is listening to his potential next challengers in Carlos Ulberg and Jiri Prochazka.”
