As Magomed Ankalaev entered the Octagon, he made sure to wrap the belt around his waist. The Dagestani outstruck the Brazilian so decisively that the scorecards reflected his dominance. From the first round to the last, Ankalaev ensured that Alex Pereira’s lethal striking remained in check. With the defeat of arguably the promotion’s biggest star, things are changing quickly, as Tom Aspinall has now stepped forward to halt ‘Poatan’s’ ascent to the heavyweight division. And, the match was insane!

Ankalaev used his Sambo skills to outshine Pereira. He did not rely on aggressiveness. Keeping the match under his control the whole time, ‘Big Ank’ used his grappling skills to neutralize the striker ‘Poatan’ is. He had previously been very open online about his wanting to “punish” his opponent when videos of Pereira visiting his tribe in Brazil surfaced. Turn out, he was right, and the ‘Stone Hands’ had to swing in order to work. The match has drawn many critics, experts and speculators.

Recently, Tom Aspinall reacted to Alex Pereira getting pieced up by  Magomed Ankalaev, he emphasized that ‘Poatan’ is lucky that he has not been knocked out yet in the match. As the Dagestani steals the title away from the Brazilian stalwart, Aspinall asserted that he would have knocked out ‘Poatan’ if he had been staged against him, “Rocked him. Mate, he’s f—— lucky he didn’t get knocked out there. If that was me, he would’ve been f—— snoozing.”

He further added, “I’m not a judge, so I’ll put that on record, but I think three rounds to two Ankalaev comfortably, comfortable win. Maybe four rounds to one even Ankalaev. I think Pereira maybe took the first. Definitely 48-47 to Ankalaev… He’s got it, Ankalaev’s got it. Dana White looking not very happy there if I do say so myself. Uncle Dana does not look too happy. Alex Pereira certainly doesn’t look too happy.”

There were rumors that the UFC was considering making the Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall fight a reality, with the winner facing Alex Pereira in a decisive matchup. However, it appears the promotion may have to take a major detour in their plans due to Magomed Ankalaev. It must be noted that Alex Pereira has been trying to move up to the heavyweight division but the probability of it seems low for now.

Jon Jones wanted to fight Alex Pereira, believing it would be a far greater legacy fight than facing Tom Aspinall. However, their matchup is currently off the table. It now appears that ‘Bones’ must either relinquish his title to face Pereira or defend it against Aspinall. As the Britisher made the harsh observations, the fans came forward to put a halt on ‘Poatan’s Heavyweight aspirations.

Fans react as Tom Aspinall gives his verdict on Alex Pereira

Tom Aspinall is arguably the best heavyweight currently competing in the UFC. With a career record of 15 victories and only 3 defeats—14 of those wins coming by first-round finishes—the Brit is eager to claim the heavyweight title from Jon Jones, and the UFC may be willing to grant his request. In response, a fan wrote: “Big Alex fan, but he’s not lying. Tom beats Alex & Jon. Just being real.”

Furthermore, another fan emphasized that Tom Aspinall would have won if he had fought against Alex Pereira, “Kinda sad but aspinall smokes Alex… Ank did win the belt yes he beat him 3-2, Jones getting knocked iut tho…”  

Will Alex Pereira ever face Tom Aspinall? There was a buzz during UFC 300 that both fighters were giving subtle hints about a potential matchup. However, a year later, the dynamics of the game completely changed due to the loss of the title. Putting cold water to Pereira’s heavyweight dreams, Aspinall stated, “That’s off the table now, the Alex Pereira fight at heavyweight or any other weight, really,” Aspinall said.”  

Now moving to the fans, a social media user highlighted that Tom Aspinall has a serious advantage to take on both Jon Jones and Alex Pereira, “Tom beats both Jon and Alex imo. Jon purely because it’s this late in his career and Alex because it’s just a bad matchup for Alex.”

Furthermore, another fan dropped a reality check on the former light-heavyweight champion,“I love poaton as a fighter believe me but judging from yesterdays fight there’s absolutely no chance of him beating Tom aspinall not even at striking Tom does whatever he wants to him.” Alex Pereira finally found some support from a fan who stood up for his champ, “Tom’s acting like Alex got exposed  Ankalaev barely did anything to him.”

Interestingly, a social media user believes that Magomed Ankalaev has what it takes to defeat Tom Aspinall, “Ankalaev smokes aspinal LOL” 

With the conclusion of UFC 313, the fate of the heavyweight division and the light-heavyweight division remains in the shadows. Will Jon Jones finally defend his title against Aspinall or will Alex Pereira finally get his heavyweight fight? State your thoughts in the comments below.