Magomed Ankalaev may have coincidentally done a favor for interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall when he beat Alex Pereira in the UFC 313 main event.
Prior to the event, Pereira had teased a possible move to heavyweight in the future after fielding a lot of questions about a potential showdown against Jon Jones. Of course, Aspinall has been impatiently waiting on his own opportunity to face Jones to unify the UFC heavyweight title but a Pereira win over Ankalaev could have possibly messed with those plans.
In the end, Ankalaev vanquished Pereira during the five-round fight, although there were a few cries that the Brazilian deserved to get the nod that night. It’s an argument that Aspinall absolutely doesn’t understand no matter how much that fight could have potentially impacted his future.
“I can’t believe people watched that fight and thought that Pereira won,” Aspinall told JNMediaUK on YouTube. “It was just wild to me how many uneducated fans are out there and how many uneducated fans thought it was a boring fight as well.
“I thought it was an amazing fight, both guys did good. But I think Ankalaev was just a lot better than him on the night. That’s it.”
While Ankalaev didn’t necessarily come close to a finish, he consistently frustrated Pereira with his forward aggression, takedown attempts and constant pressure that just never allowed the Brazilian to settle into any kind of rhythm.
Aspinall was very impressed with Ankalaev’s strategy because for all the talk about his grappling superiority in the fight, he didn’t really even need to take Pereira down to beat him.
“I think Ankalaev just had him guessing a lot,” Aspinall said. “I think Pereira’s level on the ground, I don’t know what level he’s at, but I think he’s still a bit wary of getting taken down. He definitely defended the takedowns well but me with an educated eye watching it, I don’t think Ankalaev was really trying to take him down that much. He definitely tried a couple of times. I think he did 10 or 11 takedown attempts but I’d say only two or three of them he went full blast.
“I think the rest of the time, he was trying to tire him out with the grappling standing, like the cage grappling stuff. I think Ankalaev had the perfect game plan. He didn’t overcommit, tired him out.”
The loss ended Pereira’s five-fight win streak at light heavyweight and prevented him from a fourth consecutive defense of his title.
That fight may have also effectively ended any hope that Pereira might move to heavyweight in hopes that he could set up a champ versus champ matchup against Jones. That obviously clears any possible obstacle for Aspinall but he’ll also take nothing away from Pereira and the incredible run he’s been on lately.
“He can do whatever he wants,” Aspinall said about Pereira. “He’s an absolute megastar. I think there’s fights to be made at middleweight, light heavy or heavy, he can do whatever he wants.”
As far as his own interest in facing Pereira, Ankalaev or anybody else for that matter, Aspinall makes it clear that he only has one goal in mind and nothing is going to deter him from that.
“I just want to fight for an undisputed title,” Aspinall said. “I’m not bothered who it’s against.”
