“The Nigerian Nightmare” Kamaru Usman had a lot of thoughts on the main event performance by Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira, but he applauded Ankalaev for his performance.
With an astonishing display of sportsmanship and impressive striking, Ankalaev snagged the UFC light heavyweight title from Alex Pereira. The win was shocking due to Ankalaev’s unconventional style during the bout. The Russian is well-known for his grappling, and many expected him to take the fight to the canvas, but he chose to stay on his feet and trade blows with the former champ. This display had many commending Ankalaev, including Nigerian fighter and former champion Kamaru Usman. Usman said that Ankalaev’s title as a wrestler should be re-evaluated. In an episode of the *Pound 4 Pound* podcast with Henry Cejudo, Usman spoke about the fighter’s performance in the cage.
“Ankalaev doesn’t really wrestle, so let’s stop classifying him as a Dagestani wrestler,” Usman said on *Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry*. “He’s not wrestling. Ankalaev put on a masterpiece. He showed that he’s not afraid of anyone. He’s got the striking, he’s got the footwork, and man, fight IQ.”
“One key thing, Henry, that a lot of people were missing, that they didn’t really see, is the hand fighting,” Usman continued. “Ankalaev dominated Alex Pereira’s front hand. He dominated it; he was touching it, he was pulling it down. Alex couldn’t get off. Alex landed maybe six jabs that I saw—good jabs—but he couldn’t. Ankalaev controlled that hand. He was moving it in, moving it out. He was playing with it the whole time. Pereira just couldn’t get going.”
Although Usman had high praise for Ankalaev, he believes that Pereira’s performance, on the other hand, was “mid” and “flat.” Like many, Usman expected a knockout victory, but Pereira wasn’t forthcoming, and Ankalaev’s defense was top-notch. Despite the uninspiring performance, Usman believes a rematch will be necessary for Pereira to redeem himself.
“I think they do the rematch, of course,” Usman said. “It’s the biggest fight they can do in the division because Pereira’s been through everybody else. They do the rematch and just give Ankalaev a chance to really solidify himself as the champion there and really start to carry that torch. I like it. I think they do that before the year is over. Congratulations to Magomed Ankalaev, because he did say he was going to go out there and do it, and he definitely did.”
