Dana White Shifts Stance on P4P Rankings Ahead of Alex Pereira’s Clash with Magomed Ankalaev
If Alex Pereira walks through Magomed Ankalaev, there will be a new No. 1 P4P fighter in town.
Dana White is not a fan of the UFC’s ranking system. In particular, the fact that Jon Jones is not listed as the promotion’s top-ranked fighter in the world. White has been so adamant about Jones’ GOAT status in recent years that he’s gotten into shouting matches with members of the media and even threatened to replace the entire voting panel responsible for the rankings with AI.
But as much as White loves to boast about the greatness of Jon Jones, not even he can deny Pereira his rightful place at the top of the P4P rankings should ‘Poatan’ emerge victorious in Saturday’s UFC 313 headliner.
“Probably [yes]. Probably you could call him the best, pound-for-pound,” White said of Pereira’s P4P case during an appearance on The Jim Rome Show. “He’s fought down at a lower weight class and was a world champion, moved up a weight class and is a world champion now. Ankalaev is without a doubt the toughest test of his career. Pereira’s team always talks about how good his takedown defense is, ‘it’s better than people realize’, we’re going to find out how good it is this weekend.
“And if he rips through Ankalaev the way he has everybody else…this guy wants to move up to heavyweight and fight at heavyweight too, and I’m the one that’s actually holding him back on that.”
Fans unsure alex pereira can beat ankalaev
Since making his Octagon debut in 2021, Pereira has earned highlight-reel knockouts over a slew of former UFC champions, including Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya, Jamahal Hill, and Jiri Prochazka on two separate occasions. He also holds a win over ex-titleholder Jan Blachowicz and most recently finished Khalil Rountree in the fourth round of their title tilt at UFC 307.
But despite all his dominance, not many are convinced ‘Poatan’ will leave ‘Sin City’ with his title intact this weekend.
As it stands, Pereira vs. Ankalaev is essentially a pick’em with Pereira sitting at -115 while the Dagestani is holding strong at -105. Most seem to believe that Ankalaev’s grappling will be the difference-maker against the former GLORY Kickboxing champion.
Helping Ankalaev’s case is the fact that he’s unbeaten in his last 13 fights.
Need help making your pick? Check out our full fight breakdown right here.
