Magomed Ankalaev systematically picked apart Alex Pereira by mixing up his striking with the threat of grappling exchanges at UFC 313, securing the light heavyweight strap over five grueling rounds. He put up a masterclass performance and shocked everyone who expected and prayed to the MMA Gods for Pereira to win. According to former two-division champion Daniel Cormier, this victory was impressive but also a revelation of what Dagestani fighters are capable of.

However, this was a stark contrast to Cormier’s pre-fight analysis two days ago. Before the former and current champ met in the middle, ‘DC’ was all in for ‘Poatan’ to cement his greatness as the king of the light heavyweight division.

On being asked if Pereira is the current biggest box-office attraction in the UFC, the former two-weight champion said to Stephen A. Smith, “Jon Jones is still here, right you guys know what happened when he was in New York City, so the rarity in which we see Jones makes him a bigger attraction. But in terms of a guy that’s consistently here, selling pay-per-views, doing well—Alex Pereira is that guy.”

Basically, what Daniel Cormier is saying is that Alex Pereira is the current biggest star in the UFC, but Jon Jones is the perennial star of the organization. Both have an incredible ability to rake in numbers. But given what Jones has done in the sport for as long as he has done it—if the arguable GOAT steps into the Octagon, like him or hate him, you will tune in to watch him fight.

He added, “The days of Conor showing up and doing it, Jon showing up, are going to end. We need Pereira. Right now you need this guy, Stephen A. This is a very dangerous matchup. But if you lose Pereira—he’s one of the guys that can truly sell out any arena, and make people tune in and tap in, because of his ability to end fights. So yes, he [Alex] is the biggest, most consistent star we have. And we need him as a champion.”

But right after the fight, ‘DC’, in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel said, “We as commentators, and as human beings—you watch these fights with the anticipation that something else may happen, that something may change. But the reality is, it wasn’t. It was never going to change. It was always going to be Magomed Ankalaev with the way that it was going. He was winning the right. And it was kinda hard to give him the credit that he deserved, just because we have Pereira on so many occasions, flip a fight.”

With his latest win over Stipe Miocic and the talks about a super fight against Tom Aspinall or Pereira, ‘Bones’ is taking the limelight. However, Pereira has been more consistent with his short-notice fights and title defenses one after the other which made him the chosen one for PPV. However, DC was forced to swallow the bitter truth about Pereira’s loss after UFC 313.

Daniel Cormier praises Ankalaev while being disappointed in Pereira’s loss

DC doubled down on the whole fight following the Dagestani phenom’s win, but he was as surprised as most MMA fans. Ankalaev’s approach shocked many people because they expected him to rely heavily on his grappling. Ankalaev attempted 11 takedowns and Pereira defended each of them so this makes the Dagestani’s win even more amazing. Ankalaev took ‘Poatan’ out of his comfort zone and made the Brazilian fight on his terms, which is what DC pointed out was the decisive factor in the fight.

“What happened was Ankalaev was unwilling to take a back step. And by being unwilling to take a back step, he did put the champion, ‘Poatan’, in some rough positions. You know what tonight showed, and you heard the urgency in the corner of Alex Pereira. Tonight showed that he’s just not as good when he has to go backward, still a good fighter, he was still in the fight. But Ankalaev had more success than we anticipated because he was able to implement that game plan,” Cormier said in his YouTube channel video.

It is natural that Pereira was hesitant inside the cage because like everyone else he too, expected the Russian not to move forward despite being hit. Usually, when ‘Poatan’ hits his opponent, they’re stunned, and usually back down, allowing Pereira to enter his flow state. This time, Ankalaev didn’t even give him an inch.

However, DC still holds Pereira in the highest regard and wants a rematch between him and Ankalaev again. Do you think this rematch will be soon? Share your thoughts in the comments below.