GDT: UFC 313: Pereira vs. Ankalaev

[Taytro]

I think you can rewatch the fights for free on espn+ right now

Maybe stop after the co main though.

 

[Avs_19]

I had it 48-47 for Ankalaev. It wasn't an entertaining fight but it was intriguing throughout. Well, except for that awful fourth round where absolutely nothing happened. Credit to Ankalaev for getting it done and he did it mostly by standing with Pereira. Even got the best of him striking and landed the most significant shot of the fight. Pereira's approach was so frustrating and he just never seemed to let it go. I had some flashbacks to Izzy/Strickland while watching this one as you're sitting there thinking "surely now he'll step on the gas" and it just never happened. A lot of that is probably due to Ankalaev's forward pressure and threat of grappling as well.

I think they should do a rematch. I'm usually against immediate rematches but Pereira has done enough as a whole to ask for one and there's absolutely nothing else intriguing in that division. BTW, Dana looked devastated and you knew who won just based on his reaction after the quick discussion with Buffer lol.

Gaethje/Fiziev was awesome. Another close fight but the correct decision. Fiziev just didn't have enough to close it out and Gaethje came on pretty strong in the third round. I loved every second of this fight.

Nice sub for Bahamondes. Neither one of those dudes look like 155'ers.

Ruffy was a big favourite for a reason and he delivered. Wow. That'll be in every KO of the year montage at the end of this year. I love the Fighting Nerds.

Leal is another guy who stood out. He put it on poor Moreno.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

I just looked at the UFC rankings. Was surprised to see Jan was still ranked 3rd in light heavyweight. His last fight was against Pereira! His next fight is against Ulberg. Even if he wins that fight dominantly no way they do a Jan vs. Ankalaev!

Jan has essentially drawn with both Ankalaev and Pereira, and also has some impressive wins sprinkled in. No question he's most deserving if he wins here in a couple of weeks.

That said, close fight, dominant champ, I have absolutely no issue with a rematch.

I've seen a few people saying this was a robbery. That's an absurd take IMO. Don't get me wrong, an argument could absolutely be made that Pereira won 1, 3, 5, but 3 and 5 were razor close rounds with nothing of consequence. I'm in the camp of to be the champ you gotta decisively beat the champ, so it's close for me, but I think objectively Ankalaev not only controlled the last 4 rounds, he also outstruck Pereira, did more damage, and was closest to finishing. Very reasonable decision.

I also don't hate this decision/outcome because as cool as Jones/Pereira would be, I wanna see Jones/Aspinall.

Gaethje is as entertaining as they come, and his willingness to fight anyone anywhere should be rewarded, but he's got nothing for Islam. From a pure entertainment perspective I'd love to see Gaethje-Topuria. No doubt that'd be a 15th straight bonus for Gaethje.

 

[pistolpete11]

I just don’t know how you give round 5 to Ankalaev. If you give it to him for the 1-1.5 minutes he held him without doing anything, then are we just ignoring Alex controlling the 3.5-4 minutes of standing time, including the high kick that stunned Ankalaev.

I think the right guy won, he just did it in such a way that I don’t really want to watch him fight.

I did have a technical glitch here or there, but I don't remember anything hurting Ankalaev. Definitely I wouldn't say he 'controlled' the stand up, even in the 5th. That's not an endorsement of Ankalaev, it's more to say nothing really happened.

I don't know why people are giving Ankalaev a hard time. He was the busier, more aggressive fighter. Took more chances. Landed the only shot that actually hurt their opponent. Yeah he tied up Pereira for a few mins late in the fight, but aside from that, he was putting on a much more admirable performance than Pereira, and was the more "exciting" of the 2 fighters in this one. Didn't play it all that safe, had no problem exchanging. Alex did basically nothing but back up and throw leg kicks for 25 minutes besides a few fleeting moments.

The scoring system is the only way Poatan had a chance in this fight, because if you scored the bout as a whole Ankalaev clearly won. Pereira is way more guilty of making this fight boring than Ankalaev due to his backing up, lack of urgency and inability to get off the cage in round 4 and 5.

People are giving Ankalaev a hard time because this is how ALL of his fights seem to go, not just this one.

 

[bov]

I did have a technical glitch here or there, but I don't remember anything hurting Ankalaev. Definitely I wouldn't say he 'controlled' the stand up, even in the 5th. That's not an endorsement of Ankalaev, it's more to say nothing really happened.


People are giving Ankalaev a hard time because this is how ALL of his fights seem to go, not just this one.

Well he was more aggressive than Pereira in this fight by far. Outstruck him, outlanded him and was pushing forward virtually the entire time. Zero takedowns. Pereira did absolute f*** all for the majority of the fight. Ankalaev was the one pushing the pace and taking more risks, simple as that.

Rounds 1-3 were pretty intense, not boring at all imo and nobody would be whining about it until Ank spent a few minutes neutralizing his opponent in the final 5-10 mins of the fight. This is all on Pereira. Ankalaev has no problem pressing forward, exchanging and putting himself in the line of fire, but the majority of his opponents can't do anything about it. That's why he is champion.

And I say all this after leaning toward Pereira in 1, 3, and 5.