Styles, as they say, make fights. And Magomed Ankalaev‘s style was nothing short of nightmarish for Alex Pereira. Gone was the destructive striker with one-punch knockout in his hands, who constantly moved forward, knocking out light heavyweights left and right. No, instead, what we got was a remarkably different version of ‘Poatan’ who looked remarkably gun shy to engage because of the Dagestani’s takedown challenge.

However, the worst moment in the fight for ‘Poatan’ came in the latter half of the second round. And we will let Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s coach, Javier Mendez, explain just why that one particular moment was so important in the fight.

“He [Ankalaev] basically pressured him [Pereira], continued to pressure him. And this is the first time really we’ve seen Alex back up as much as he did. So he backed him up a lot, he caught him when trying to switch [stance], which is the wrong thing to do when you’re switching, you know. When a punch is being thrown, don’t be switching. And he got caught in the switch, you know, and that’s what got him with that good punch straight cross,” Mendez said in a recent video on his YouTube channel.

Indeed, towards the end of the second round, Pereira tried to switch stances and got caught off-balance, which gave Ankalaev an opening to land a hard left, sending the Brazilian crashing back on the cage. And that was the beginning of the end for Pereira, as Ankalaev took control of the fight for most of the remainder of the fight.

While the third round was a bit closer, ‘Big Ank’ did find more success with his forward pressure and kicks to the body and legs. The fourth round, however, was completely the Magomed Ankalaev show as Pereira failed to land even one significant strike on his head, and got totally stifled by ‘Big Ank’ in the clinch.

By the time the fifth round came, Pereira seemed to know that he was behind on the scorecards, and tried his best to find a kill shot. However, the Makhachkala resident was just too good for him and managed to land more significant strikes and continued to stifle the Brazilian in the clinch, even if Pereira gave a pretty good showing in that round. In the end, however, Ankalaev won a well-deserved unanimous decision. Of course, everybody wants to see a rematch. However, some of Ankalaev’s recent comments have made some curious.

Is the Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira rematch in jeopardy?

Alex Pereira, Magomed Ankalaev, and Dana White— all three men agree that a rematch is in order. In fact, the new light heavyweight champ has revealed that he is already in negotiations with the UFC for his next fight. And surprisingly, the Pereira rematch is not set in stone at the moment, the champ told Russian MMA outlet ‘Usktayaka’ in a recent interview.

“The negotiations are ongoing. At the moment, I don’t know who will be next for me. But we agreed instantly. If they want a rematch, we are ready,” ‘Big Ank’ said.

So is there a chance the rematch doesn’t happen? Well, yeah, there is a chance, but not a big one since ‘Poatan’ has said he wants an immediate rematch. So unless the Brazilian (or Dana White) change their mind and feel that Pereira needs a tune-up fight or more time to prepare for Ankalaev’s lethal style, the rematch is bound to be next. What do you think about coach Javier Mendez’s take on the Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev clash?