Morning Report: Joe Rogan claims Alex Pereira fought with broken hand, illness at UFC 313

Joe Rogan has a theory as to why Alex Pereira struggled in his title fight loss at UFC 313.

“Poatan” dropped his light heavyweight belt to Magomed Ankalaev following a listless five-round performance that saw Ankalaev control the majority of the action. The famed knockout power of Pereira was nowhere to be seen as he saw his streak of three straight successful defenses snapped.

During a UFC London Fight Companion episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan claims he heard Pereira was hindered by a hand injury and an illness.

“They say he fought with a broken hand and norovirus against Ankalaev,” Rogan said in a passing comment.

Norovirus is an infection that affects the gastrointestinal system, typically causing vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach discomfort. Pereira has not spoken publicly about any maladies that may have been affecting him going into the March 8 pay-per-view and Rogan did not offer any follow-up, though he did speculate as to whether Pereira might just be fighting too often after winning three championship bouts in 2024.

“He fought with a broken toe before,” Rogan said. “When he beat Jiri Prochazka, he had a f*cked-up knee. Remember when he went and he tumbled at the end of the fight, that’s because his knee wouldn’t support him. He was basically fighting on one leg in the first fight. Then he gets surgery, I guess it’s probably meniscus, because he came back pretty quick.”

Ankalaev entered his title challenge on a 13-fight unbeaten streak and used a tactical striking approach to defuse Pereira, scoring the most damaging punch of the bout in the second round. He went on to claim a unanimous decision and the UFC light heavyweight title.

Rogan gave full credit to Ankalaev for his winning performance.

“Ankalaev and Pereira, second round [Pereira] gets rocked and then he’s kind of not the same after that,” Rogan said. “Much more defensive after that. I saw a good breakdown of Ankalaev’s standup against Pereira, it was very high level. Especially taking away the front hand, he’s doing this circular motion with his hand and taking away angles.”

It’s unclear what’s next for Pereira, the former two-division champion who has quickly become one of the UFC’s most popular athletes. Presumably, a rematch awaits him if he wants it, but light heavyweight has no shortage of current contenders for Ankalaev and Pereira has teased a move to heavyweight.

For Rogan’s money, he’s betting Ankalaev-Pereira 2 happens immediately.

“They’re going to run it back, I’m sure,” Rogan said. “That’s the big fight in that division and if Pereira can come in healthy. But he’s another one, he’s too active.”

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Also, apologies in advance for no Morning Report on Wednesday, will be back Thursday!

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