Alex Pereira looked uncomfortable as soon as Bruce Buffer—after bestowing upon him ‘The one, the only’ honor—announced Magomed Ankalaev as the new champion at UFC 313. He immediately mentioned wanting to be back inside the Octagon as soon as he could, with Dana White hinting that a rematch was “probably” in order. However, UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen doesn’t seem to be on the same page with the CEO on this one because his assessment of the fight had Pereira getting outplayed in his own game.

Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen convened yet again, sharing their analysis of last weekend’s main event. While things didn’t work out for Alex Pereira, ‘DC’ gave Magomed Ankalaev his much-deserved flowers for a “beautiful fight.” During the recent episode of the Good Guy/Bad Guy show, Sonnen claimed that ‘Poatan’ was totally outdone by the Dagestan native in the standup game, which is surprising given that people were stressing more on Ankalaev’s ground game being the game changer prior to the fight. We all know how much power Pereira packs in his left hand, but it was Ankalaev who made effective use of his left hand at UFC 313, according to ‘The American Gangster’.

“He never got going and the reason he couldn’t was because he was worried about that takedown. He couldn’t quite step into those combinations. One punch at a time. They were kickboxing,” said Chael Sonnen. “Pereira won the kicking part of that, but he got outboxed all night. It really was a surprise. Ankalaev would dip a little bit outside and he would throw that left hand, and Pereira would miss him and Ankalaev would clinch him and it was just rinse and repeat.”

Magomed Ankalaev’s performance was so clinical that Chael Sonnen can’t seem to imagine Alex Pereira ever getting the better of his Dagestani counterpart. His analysis saw Ankalaev winning 80 percent of the fight. As such, the MMA legend doesn’t believe that giving ‘Poatan’ a rematch would be the best course of action for Dana White and the light heavyweight division.

“There was nothing that I saw in those five rounds that would reasonably lead me to believe that’s going to change. I think that happens again,” Sonnen added. “A rematch surprised me for a few reasons, but believing we’re gonna get a different outcome, I think is tough.”

However, Alex Pereira may not need to worry about what others have to say about the rematch, because he might just get it. That’s because Magomed Ankalaev seems to have no issues with granting it to the former champion.

Magomed Ankalaev is willing to give Alex Pereira a rematch

There must be something about Dagestani fighters because they’re just ready to fight anyone Dana White puts up against them. Just like Islam Makhachev, Magomed Ankalaev also doesn’t have any problem in settling the score once again with Alex Pereira. In fact, the newly crowned light heavyweight champion claimed to have agreed to the fight right after his win last weekend.

“We agreed instantly. If they want a rematch, we are ready,” Ankalaev told Russian outlet Ushatayka. Meanwhile, the Dagestan native mentioned wanting his next fight to take place in the Middle East, especially in Abu Dhabi. But that could be a problem because the UFC usually makes their return to UAE for a pay-per-view in October, and that will make fans wait for several months before getting the rematch. It is unlikely that Dana White would like to keep his biggest star at the moment out of action for seven months.

Regardless, it was a great weekend for Magomed Ankalaev as he finally won the gold after never getting a rematch for the title in his first title fight—which ended in a draw. But what do you think is next for Alex Pereira? Could he choose to move to heavyweight if the rematch doesn’t happen? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.