Alex Pereira urged to avoid Magomed Ankalaev in UFC light heavyweight move: ‘He can wrestle’
Former undisputed UFC middleweight champion, Alex Pereira has been warned about a potential future fight with one-time light heavyweight title challenger, Magomed Ankalaev in his expected 205lbs division move – due to the Russian contender’s wrestling ability.
Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight champion under the banner of the UFC, headlined the promotion’s pay-per-view event earlier this month against fierce rival, Israel Adesanya – suffering a second round KO loss to the two-time titleholder.
The defeat came as the Brazilian’s first inside the Octagon during his five fight tenure, having previously landed a trio of triumphs over Adesanya over the course of their four fight series in both mixed martial arts and kickboxing competition.
Alex Pereira warned away from division clash with Magomed Ankalaev
Confirming his intentions to make a light heavyweight division move off the back of his stoppage loss to Adesanya, Alex Pereira – a former GLORY Kickboxing champion at that weight division to boot, has been warned away from a potential clash with Ankalaev by former two-weight division champion, Daniel Cormier.
“That’s the matchup that Alex Pereira would want to avoid – I think that’s the only one at 205 [pounds] that you would want to avoid right now, because [Magomed] Ankalaev can wrestle,” Daniel Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “And we saw that in the fight against Jan Blachowicz, where he (Ankalaev) took him down in the last three rounds.”
In terms of other fights at the light heavyweight limit for Pereira, the Sao Paulo knockout artist has been tipped to lay waste to both current champion, Jamahal Hill, and former titleholder, Jiri Prochazka – both with ease to boot.
Last competing at UFC 282 back in December of last year, Ankalaev fought to a majority decision draw against former undisputed light heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz in the pair’s vacant division title fight in Las Vegas, Nevada.
