Magomed Ankalaev fought very well at UFC 313, employing his game plan to good effect opposite defending 205-pound king Alex Pereira. Though he wasn’t able to take down Pereira, the combat Sambo ace still landed more punches, stunned the Brazilian, and was generally the aggressor across five rounds. Pereira, conversely, didn’t land many head shots and struggled to get his offense going in the face of Ankalaev’s pressure and defense.
Lost in Ankalaev’s somewhat surprising success on the feet was that the fight and decision were still quite close. Fans and media alike were divided on the victor, and the judges unanimously scored the contest for Ankalaev with just a single round as the deciding factor.
Pereira has been reluctant to offer up any excuses for the loss, but he does take at least some issue with how the bout was officiated. Pereira believes Ankalaev spent a fair amount of the fight focused on control rather than doing damage, which Pereira doesn’t feel should be allowed/rewarded.
“I think we should change these rules,” Pereira told Ariel Helwani (via Sports Illustrated). “If a person puts another person on the fence, they have to be there hurting [their opponent]. But he [Ankalaev] did nothing.”
As mentioned, Ankalaev generally out-landed Pereira on the feet. Round four, however, saw Ankalaev almost entirely focus on pinning “Poatan” to the cage. The onus is on Pereira to escape, but it’s also true that Ankalaev didn’t really do any damage in those five minutes. His control was the only real factor, and it won him the round … which thus won him the decision.
Whether Pereira wants a change in referee or judging criteria is unclear, but neither is likely to happen because nothing ever changes in MMA. Fortunately, “Poatan” will have a second opportunity to escape the clinch and force damage to be the deciding factor, as the two are likely to rematch this summer.
