Firas Zahabi believes Magomed Ankalaev beat Alex Pereira by winning the mental battle.
This past Saturday, Ankalaev won a unanimous decision over Pereira in the main event of UFC 313, claiming the light heavyweight title. It was the first loss of Pereira’s light heavyweight career and while some disagreed with the decision, Zahabi was not one of them.
“Round 1, Pereira did incredible,” Zahabi said on his YouTube channel. “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 say Round 3 was for Pereira, OK, give him Round 3, he still loses 3-2 at best. At best, Pereira loses 3-2.”
Zahabi, famed coach of Tristar Gym, has produced several top fighters over the years, most notably in his work with UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre. So when he says he was impressed by a fighter, there’s some weight to that statement, and on Saturday, Ankalaev impressed Zahabi.
“It wasn’t the most exciting fight, but here’s what’s amazing: Ankalaev out-struck him the whole fight,” Zahabi said. “The whole fight was standing, and Ankalaev wins. If you put these two in a kickboxing match, I think all of us would agree that Pereira wins. Why is it that he can out-strike him in an MMA match? Well, 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 in Round 1 and ever since he got stunned, he was hesitant. Now, 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.”
