Alex Pereira had certain shortcomings in the first Magomed Ankalaev bout that he can potentially subvert in their rematch, in the eyes of a former UFC title challenger. This sentiment was expressed by Dan Hardy during an interview with Helen Yee Sports at Xtreme Couture.
At UFC 313 in March, Alex Pereira dropped his light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev and the fairly lopsided bout saw Ankalaev ascend to the 205 pound throne by way of a unanimous decision. Giving his overview on the first fight and touching on the looming Pereira-Ankalaev sequel clash in the coming weeks, Dan Hardy said,
"I think maybe [Pereira] had a little bit too much respect for [Magomed] Ankalaev in the last fight… Pereira when he’s at that close range—either when you’re coming to him, like when [Sean] Strickland fought him, or when someone’s moving away and he’s walking into their range like Jamahal Hill—you feel that pressure of his kind of frame coming at you and people feel like they need to react."
"If I’m [Alex] Pereira, I would be thinking about getting as close to him as possible, getting in his face, maybe even try and use a bit of Thai clinch just to kind of manage the clinch a bit. He’s going to be better defending takedowns on the front foot as well, right?… It’s better if he’s pressuring forward and forcing Ankalaev to shoot under pressure."
Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalev 2 broken down by a former UFC light heavyweight champion
Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev will again step into the octagon on UFC 320 on October 4th. One of the fighters who knows Pereira best, and is also interwoven within that UFC light heavyweight title lineage, has weighed in on the sequel clash. Glover Teixeira is the combatant in question and the former UFC titleholder has guided the career of 'Poatan' in a coaching capacity for several years now.
On the Overdogs Brasil podcast with Renato Moicano as well as American Top Team coach Marcos da Matta, the 45-year-old commented on how he sees the second chapter of the Pereira vs. Ankalaev story unfurling as Teixeira stated [via Sherdog],
"The first round will be brutal. It’s not that he’ll come in angry, but he’ll come in with that same [aggressive] attitude. This fight will be much more dynamic. ‘Poatan’ will be pressing the entire time because he’s ready for it."
"Mentally, there are guys who are different. I’ve always been calm in my fights, but I had my doubts. ‘Poatan’ seems very confident, very focused. He’s doing very well. Now we’ll hone it in these last three weeks, get the timing right, because the guy is already ready for five rounds."
