UFC legend vouches for Alex Pereira vs. Tom Aspinall despite UFC 313 upset
Was Alex Pereira's striking capacity peaked in UFC 313 PPV loss vs. Magomed Ankalaev? He can find out against Tom Aspinall, per Chael Sonnen.
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Unlikey, but, Chael Sonnen promotes Alex Pereira vs. Tom Aspinall to redeem his striking reportoire, after UFC 313 (Source: X/IMAGO)
Chael Sonnen didn’t necessarily take a liking to what he saw in Alex Pereira’s UFC 313 title loss. In the PPV main event, Magomed Ankalaev gave him challenges in his standup game to become the new UFC 205-pound champ. While he knows not if this wasn’t a peak Pereira, Sonnen does feel the ex-champ needs a comeback in his striking column. He finds the allure to fight Tom Aspinall a great one.
UFC CEO Dana White has already snuffed out heavyweight dreams for Alex Pereira. UFC 313 PPV challenger Ankalaev has reason to toot his horns as he stuck to his word and gave a striking-heavy challenge (although he attempted a fair share of takedowns).
Pereira now needs another striking challenge to redeem back as this wasn’t a case of ‘Pereira bad’ but rather Ankalaev good. Chael Sonnen namedropped Tom Aspinall for it, despite no (heavyweight) talks on the horizon.
…I’m not sure that the Alex Pereira that I saw isn’t the greatest Alex Pereira I’ve ever seen; …does he [Ankalaev] get credit because his words were that I’m going to stand up and I’m going to kickbox with him I’m going to beat him… I, as a Pereira fan: what I want is Pereira at heavyweight, and if in a month from now we come out with a poster and it’s Tom Aspinall versus Alex Pereira, I think you guys are pretty excited that’s my guess.
Chael Sonnen via his YT Channel (@ChaelSonnenOfficial)
With Ankalaev outworking Alex Pereira in standup, predominant predictions came true. Even Kamaru Usman later nudged to drop the “Dagestani wrestler” label in favor of a brilliant striker for the new 205-pound champ. What better way to salvation than to bounce back against a shock striker again? For Pereira, that would be HW interim champ Tom Aspinall, who makes shorter work of his opponents than ‘Poatan’.
Interestingly, with Jon Jones sailing off to no-unification land and Twitter Wars, Tom Aspinall and Pereira have expressed interest in each other. The heavyweight aspirant saw himself as a better draw for ‘Bones’; that’s far from true after UFC 313. However, if he gets a few wins at heavyweight, a fight with the Brit champ would be one for ages. Pereira, though, is rather ready to get back what was his.
Talks for Magomed Ankalaev rematch already underway, per Alex Pereira
The UFC 313 PPV main event stumble put Pereira at digits of 12-3 MMA and 9-2 UFC; this is his first loss at light heavyweight. So – hard to digest overall. He made no excuses for it but is ready to bounce back as soon as he can. Given his larger-than-life title campaign all through 2023-24, Alex Pereira might seemingly get his title opportunity very soon.
Pereira was able to stuff down all TD attempts from Magomed Ankalaev. However, he could not answer the striking pressure and the clinch-heavy shoe toward the fences, R3 onwards. The former champ isn’t ready to contest the fallout of Ankalaev’s fight style until he has seen replays. But he stated talks of a rematch are already going on.
Of course it’s not the result I wanted, …We were confident for this fight. I was well. I trained hard. Some things happened, of course, but I don’t want to give excuses. I know we’ll have the rematch — We’re already in talks [for rematch]…Many people contested and were in doubts…I haven’t watched the fight yet. I’ll watch to have my opinion.
Alex Pereira on his Official YT Channel (@Poatan.AlexPereira; H/T: MMAFighting on SBNation Network)
UFC CEO White has confirmed that a Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev PPV title rematch seems very likely at the moment. Given his momentum this past year, Poatan is still the top crop for it. Ankalaev had issues about facing the champ, but even he is ready for it.
Related: 5 UFC super fights Dana White needs to make in 2025
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