“It was not what I expected. I expected a lot more shooting, I expected a lot more exchanges.” Dana White was left unamazed with the UFC 313 main event, with the audience booing the fight between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev. And when asked about a rematch, the UFC head honcho didn’t hesitate for a single moment and said, “Probably.” But White wasn’t the only one who seemed to want a rematch between Pereira and Ankalev. 

Daniel Cormier also weighed in on the bout on his YouTube channel. And a rematch seemed like the only option for the light heavyweight division. The UFC color commentator said, “He [Ankalaev] fought a wonderful fight and showed that he was not wrong in saying ‘I can stand with him.’ Because he did have to stand for 25 minutes against the most dangerous striker in the UFC, possibly UFC history, and he came out as the champion. I want to see a rematch between these two, because I don’t see anyone else that should be fighting Magomed Ankalaev for that belt.”  

On the other hand, DC was quick to note that Pereria didn’t seem like himself in the fight. Regardless of that, Cormier felt that it was hard to give the Russian champion the credit he deserved. And the reason? It was because the man with the hands of stone had flipped several fights in the past. And a rematch would probably confirm if Ankalaev really deserved a win against ‘Poatan’ or not. 

As soon as MMA Junkie shared Daniel Cormier’s opinion on Instagram, the fighting world took over the comments section. Most of the fight fans seemed to have agreed with the former heavyweight champion. Let’s see what the fighting community had to say.

Fans side with Daniel Cormier to ask for Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev 2

Soon after the post on Instagram went live, the fight fans started rallying for an immediate rematch between the two. One of the comments read, “We need an immediate rematch.” A fan claimed that ‘Poatan’ wasn’t really dominated by Ankalaev. On top of that, he was a light heavyweight champion with 3 successful title defenses in the division. This made him worthy enough to get an immediate rematch. The comment went like, “TBH POATAN deserves an immediate rematch.. he wasn’t dominated by Magomed and POATAN had three successful title defenses nevertheless an active champion!! CHAMA.” 

Weighing in on the disappointing outcome of UFC 313, Alex Pereira revealed that he could have done better. Nevertheless, he admitted that he’d get to the gym and start training for a rematch. Even Ankalaev believed that he could have performed better at the fight. Reflecting on this, a fan commented, “rematch would be good for both fighters. Both of them will believe they can perform better next time.”

The fighting community didn’t miss Pereira’s fear of getting taken down. And after Ankalaev pointed out that he ran for 20 minutes, the fans’ demand for a rematch went higher. One of the fans wrote, “Alex was paranoid bcuz he was preparing for Ogremed takedowns, if he fights how he normally fights he proably couldve won just off points.” Another fan commented, “💯 but i would like to see Pereira trust his power more and walk that dude ankalaev down!” Of course, if Pereira wanted to win, he’d have to make some changes in his gameplan. And the fans knew this too. A comment read, “I do too but alex needs to make the right adjustments or he’ll lose again.”

Meanwhile, some of the fans expected Pereira to move up to the heavyweight division and take up a fight against Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall. After all, the three of them have already hinted at their desire for a fight. A fan wrote, “Heavyweight Poatan ! He’s been there and done that at light heavyweight. Time to go for a 3rd division belt.”

What are your thoughts regarding the rematch between Ankalaev and Pereira? Do you think ‘Poatan’ can win if he actually focuses on striking rather than defending himself from Ankalaev’s takedowns? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.