Magomed Ankalaev has addressed criticism surrounding the perceived lack of excitement in his UFC 313 main event victory over Alex Pereira, placing the blame on his opponent.
Ankalaev’s unanimous decision win, which secured him the UFC light heavyweight championship, was notably less explosive than Pereira’s previous title fights, drawing criticism from both fans and fellow fighters.
During the post-fight press conference, the Dagestani defended his strategic approach, arguing that Pereira’s reluctance to engage was the primary reason for the fight’s subdued nature. The judges scored the closely contested bout 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46 in Ankalaev’s favor. However, some people thought otherwise.
Despite the close scores and differing opinions, the new champ remained firm that the outcome was never in doubt while speaking at the post-fight press conference. He maintained that Pereira’s hesitancy to engage was the reason for the fight’s lack of action, and therefore, the criticism was unwarranted.
“It was very different from what we envisioned because, as you know, usually Pereira hunts for the finish,” Magomed Ankalaev said via a Russian translator. “He moves forward, he tries to hunt down his opponents for the finish. Here, it was very different, as you can see. He was running away from me, he wasn’t letting me work, and he himself wasn’t really working much, so you saw the way it played out.
“I was confident. I kept on moving forward, I kept pressuring him, and he kept running away from me. For 20 minutes, this guy was running away from me. Then I heard at the end of the fight he was saying that he wasn’t sure why the victory was given to me. Who’s supposed to be given the victory? I’ve been pressuring him the entire time, he was running for 20 minutes, and then he’s wondering who’s supposed to get the victory? Listen, I’m happy for a rematch if he wants one. But maybe in the rematch, he can fight for real and not just run away the entire time.”
