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.
