UFC Lightweight Star Shares ‘Theory’ About Dana White and Co. Being Afraid to Book Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev

UFC lightweight star Jan Blachowicz has a theory about why Dana White and the UFC brass seem hesitant to book Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev. Despite Ankalaev being the clear number-one contender, the title shot continued to elude him at every turn. 

Blachowicz, a former champion himself, believes the UFC might be holding back because of what could happen inside the cage. According to him, a fight between Pereira’s elite striking and Ankalaev’s grappling would be a thrilling clash of styles but the latter might just edge out the champ. Or at least that’s what Blachowicz believes the UFC might be afraid of. 

“Everybody is curious why they don’t do it… We will see. I think Ankalev should get this fight right now. If Ankalaev fight like he did in his last fight against Rakic, he going to lose. He need to do something more. He is a good fighter but it is not enough for Pereira, this kind of style.”

Prior to the Rakic fight, Ankalaev had been reportedly asked by the UFC top brass to make it an entertaining battle and win while he was at it. This could explain why he chose a more strike-first approach to the fight. However, he also looked far too cautious as well.

Blachowicz also suggested that Ankalaev is generally happy to let the decision go to the judges’ scorecards and scrape by somehow. However Ankalaev has the skills to do so much more, Blachowicz argues. 

Hopefully, he does that when he fights Pereira for the title.

 Ankalaev confirms he is next in line

Alex Pereira has been out of action since his tough UFC 307 bout with Khalil Rountree Jr., where he battled back from an early knockdown to secure a fourth-round knockout.

After the fight, Pereira hinted at a potential move to heavyweight for a clash with Jon Jones, but Dana White quickly shut down the idea.

Instead, it was confirmed that Jones would be too good a wrestler to pit against Pereira, who he actually likes. Besides, Pereira still has fights to win at light heavyweight before making the highly anticipated move to heavyweight and getting a shot at the title in a third weight class. 

While Pereira agrees to the same, he has time and again told reporters that he would make it difficult for Ankalaev to get a shot at his light heavyweight title since the latter has been disrespectful to him. 

However, a few weeks ago, Ankalaev took to social media to announce that Dana White had personally assured him of the title shot.

Hopefully, whenever the fight takes place, it lives up to the hype that has preceded it!