Magomed Ankalaev criticizes Alex Pereira for lacklustre UFC 313 performance: ‘He was running from me’

Newly-crowned undisputed light heavyweight champion, Magomed Ankalaev has hit out at arch-rival, Alex Pereira for his display at UFC 313 over the course of the weekend, claiming the Brazilian knockout artist was just “running” from him during their tense title headliner.

Ankalaev, who emerged with a contentious unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) victory over the dominant Sao Paulo native, handed Pereira his first loss at the light heavyweight limit, and began his own reign as undisputed champion to boot.

Receiving flak for his own performance in ‘Sin City’, Russian star, Ankalaev was accused of just holding Pereira at the fence to amass control time, without inflicting much significant damage. Furthermore, Pereira questioned the legitimacy of his victory, pointing to the fact he had stuffed a whopping eleven separate takedowns.

Magomed Ankalaev rips Alex Pereira for lacklustre fight at UFC 313

However, if you ask Ankalaev of his rival’s performance at UFC 313 over the weekend, he claims the now-former champion was simply “running” from a fight with him.

I’m very happy to beat a champion like Alex Pereira. Now, the belt is in the owner’s hands,” Magomed Ankalaev told Kolos on MMA.

“I thought Pereira was going to be pushing, coming forward,” Magomed Ankalaev explained. “I thought he’d want to finish me. We prepared ourselves to dominate him. You could tell he was running away from me.”

However, offering Pereira a rematch clash next, Ankalaev has claimed negotiations are already underway for him to take on the Brazilian berserker in the near — if not immediate future.

Negotiations are already underway regarding a rematch,” Magomed Ankalaev told, according to Ushatayka. “It’s not yet known who will be next, but we agreed in advance, if they ]Alex Pereira and his team] want a rematch then we are ready.”