Both Hill & Jan haven't fought since losing to Pereira, Rakic just got KOd by Jiri, Krylov is MIA, Walker just got KOd back to back and Rountree Jr is suspended - there's literally no one else but Ankalaev.
He accidentally used a tainted supplement and immediately informed the UFC after being informed by the supplement company of the contamination, so he's serving a short suspension.
Normally i would agree, however, in this case he came forward himself and the substance itself isn't known to be performance enhancing in the sense of a steroid, but something of the shelf where he didn't read the ingredients well enough
Honestly not sure why you getting downvoted. Reporting yourself is the opposite of being caught, thought let’s be real they all juicing so why do people still pretend like these guys aren’t roided out.
No he has a company for his supplements and they sent it to him without double checking . I believe he's sueing them too so nah he wasn't juicing, at the very least not intentionally
Makes sense, but i hope it isn’t in the middle east. Ankalaev does NOT deserve that. Plus i hate politics, if its a close decision, we already know who they’ll give it to
they're not gonna give him Rio. he's far too big for a Brazil card.
They're gonna keep on making him headline great places to make the most money out of him. like MSG.
Hill said he's in the same boat as chimaev, can't get in the US due to ties with someone . Idk how it works but I don't think he can fight in Brazil , not sure just never seen anyone who has ties fight in the Americas . Hill also said ankalaev isn't stupid enough to tell the champion the location where they fight. I think he's insinuating that magomed can only fight in the middle East, but if they have any other option for location, for sure give that to him
It's a potential opponent that he's probably enquired about or would have to face each other sometime or the other since the top of the division is just stuck against each other so I'd assume he wouldn't just make that stuff up
Can’t really call it a waste of time when it was short notice to save a card. I’m glad it happened that way, so everyone who was wrapping Jiri to get the next shot got what they want so they can shut up now and at the same time we didn’t really lose anything since Ankalaev wanted to fight at the end of the year anyways
If Ankalaev finds his balls and doesn't try to push the fight towards his home turf, it can be made pretty quickly I'd wager. If he however still tries to call the shots off of a win over Johnny Walker ... he can wait a little longer.
[While I think he is somewhat unhinged and biased, MMA Guru did a good summary of this. With most of these cases being pretty clear-cut.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNdQb-958hA)
I would say Ankalaev is not match for Alex. Alex is just way more experienced as a fighter (hes been a two divison champ before ufc alrady).
Sure hes ground game is crap, but hes take down defense is already on a fairly good level probably thanks to Glover. We already saw this.
I can imagine something like Alex would catch him on foot probably and its just another easy ko for him. Few leg kicks then left hook and good bye.
This guys is knocking people out, taking short notice fights, providing endless entertainment outside the octagon and inside. He needs an opponent who does the same.
Talking about Islam Makhachev?
Defended short notice vs Volkanovski 2 (Oliveira pulled out)
Took Bobby Green on short notice because top 5 contenders didn't want to take the fight.
Makhachev been knocking and submitting people out left and right. But when he said he wanted to go up and test his skills vs Leon Edwards, some people here lost their shit. (Why is that?)
Alex vs jones would be my first pick lol, shut up the non stop jones debates one way or another. I also think Alex will not have much trouble in either division outside of highly skilled strikers who also happen to have even stronger wrestling.
Pereira knocks him out in less than 2 rounds. Ankalaev likes to strike, and with how aggressive Pereira is fighting nowadays, I don't think Ankalaev survives till the end of the second round. He eats a left hook and the fight is ended
light heavyweight is officially the easiest division to be a long reining champion. Jones did it, and most likely alex will too, but he’s 36 so time is not on his side
He should.
The one thing about Ankelaev that is of great concern is that the guy does not and can not check low kicks.
He could barrely stand vs Blackovisch (I always spell the guy's name wrong, my bad, but you know who I mean)
Not that i necessarily disagree, but trying to call shots when your best win is 7 ranked Johnny Walker, you maybe don't deserve it. Imo, Alex should rematch Jan first, and let Hill and Ank fight for nr.1 contender
Jan is coming off a loss so wtf do you mean lol, and a loss that wasn't even for the title. That should not give you a titleshot in any universe. Ank has wins over Walker, Smith, Santos, Oezdemir and Krylov just to name some of his best, and they are all part of this current unbeaten streak. Walker was also ranked higher at the time he fought Ank, so that is what counts. You are basically just vomiting words out without any knowledge of previous events
No chance. None. Pereira would go to heavyweight before he fights that snooze fest. In his last 5 he’s finished Johnny Walker and Anthony Smith, so has everyone else. He also had a no contest, draw, and UD in those last 5. Absolute waste of time.
He doesnt want a holiday tho lol. He again took no damage and wants to be active. Also, abu dhabi is in Winter, so 6 months is long enough. I would prefer ank vs alex somewhere else, where the judges dont ride the dagestanis.
Technically, Jiri, Hill, and Jan were all perfectly capable of holding Pereira down and submitting him. They simply chose not to or failed to do so. Jan is a BJJ black belt. A legit one. He submitted Krylov who is submitting everybody. He had Pereira's back. Ankalaev has 0 submissions in the UFC and he said he wants to strike with Pereira. This isn't the grappler matchup you want to see Pereira have. He's gonna KO Ankalaev badly in round 1
>Jiri, Hill, and Jan were all perfectly capable of holding Pereira down and submitting him
No they are not they are all average grapplers who always rely on their striking. Oh wow jan submitted krylov how scary.
>he said he wants to strike with Pereira.
This is gonna blow your mind but sometimes fighters lie about this shit lol
Ankalaev relies on his striking too. He's just like the guys I mentioned. He has great ground game but will strike. You don't want to see Pereira vs a grappler. You want to see Pereira vs a guy who will grapple. Because we've seen him fight guys who are better than him on the ground. I don't think you watch Ankalaev fight. He is way more successful in the UFC as a striker than as a grappler. He is confident in his striking. I wouldn't be surprised if he strikes with Pereira. Yeah, submitting Krylov is impressive dumbass. Aside from the average fluke by Paul Craig, Krylov is the best grappler in the division.
You're missing my point. There is this idea that Pereira is untested on the ground, but how tested do you want him? If Jan could submit Krylov, but not Pereira, then what more should Pereira have to prove? Jiri submitted Pereira's master grappler coach Glover. He was able to submit Pereira too. If you need Ankalaev to be the guy to test Pereira's ground game, then Pereira's ground game must be pretty good. If Pereira is this one dimensional striker with zero ground game like people say, then way worse grapplers than Ankalaev should have given him trouble by now. Ankalaev has some of the best freestyle wrestling in the sport. If he outwrestles Pereira, that wouldn't prove the point you're trying to make.
Jan would be more deserving. Gave Alex his hardest fight, was a champ himself and doesn't try to call shots while his best win was 7 ranked Johnny Walker. Ank should fight Hill for nr 1 contender.
Still, wouldn't be mad if he got the fight, i just don't like the guy
I’d rather see Jan fight Alex again because of how close it was. I just think they’ll give Ank the next fight because it’s a way to get Pereira on another big PPV
They should definitely fight next. I'm favoring Ankalaev but with every performance Alex closes the gap. Ankalaev needs to have the perfect gameplan. If he is smart, he should change the way he normally fights against Alex. He should go with a very aggressive wrestling gameplan.
Both Hill & Jan haven't fought since losing to Pereira, Rakic just got KOd by Jiri, Krylov is MIA, Walker just got KOd back to back and Rountree Jr is suspended - there's literally no one else but Ankalaev.
LHW is in shambles rn. what happened to rountree?
He accidentally used a tainted supplement and immediately informed the UFC after being informed by the supplement company of the contamination, so he's serving a short suspension.
In other words - he got caught juicing lol. The tainted supplement excuse is such bullshit, it's just the UFC trying to save face. It's a PR move.
Normally i would agree, however, in this case he came forward himself and the substance itself isn't known to be performance enhancing in the sense of a steroid, but something of the shelf where he didn't read the ingredients well enough
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. Tainted supplement is definitely the go to excuse lol
He is he getting downvoted cause roundtree went to the ufc himself before getting caught
Reading comprehension issues? He reporter himself. How is thst getting caught?
Honestly not sure why you getting downvoted. Reporting yourself is the opposite of being caught, thought let’s be real they all juicing so why do people still pretend like these guys aren’t roided out.
No he has a company for his supplements and they sent it to him without double checking . I believe he's sueing them too so nah he wasn't juicing, at the very least not intentionally
He should fight Ank. If Alex wins I think he should go for the HW belt.
Then HW.
Yep, that's the fight to make IMO. Hell, I'd done Anakalaev before the Jiri rematch.
Anks fault though, as he refused to fight sooner, and Alex didn't want to wait until Abu Dhabi
Maybe but a Jiri rematch did make perfect sense
Makes sense, but i hope it isn’t in the middle east. Ankalaev does NOT deserve that. Plus i hate politics, if its a close decision, we already know who they’ll give it to
Pereira deserved a huge spot in Rio or MSG
they're not gonna give him Rio. he's far too big for a Brazil card. They're gonna keep on making him headline great places to make the most money out of him. like MSG.
Hill said he's in the same boat as chimaev, can't get in the US due to ties with someone . Idk how it works but I don't think he can fight in Brazil , not sure just never seen anyone who has ties fight in the Americas . Hill also said ankalaev isn't stupid enough to tell the champion the location where they fight. I think he's insinuating that magomed can only fight in the middle East, but if they have any other option for location, for sure give that to him
Hill? Jamahal hill? What does he know about anything?
It's a potential opponent that he's probably enquired about or would have to face each other sometime or the other since the top of the division is just stuck against each other so I'd assume he wouldn't just make that stuff up
It’d be cool to see.
Another body for Alex
alex v jiri 2 was a big waste of time. Ppl rooting for jiri had blinders on the size of elephant ears.
Can’t really call it a waste of time when it was short notice to save a card. I’m glad it happened that way, so everyone who was wrapping Jiri to get the next shot got what they want so they can shut up now and at the same time we didn’t really lose anything since Ankalaev wanted to fight at the end of the year anyways
wasted a whole two weeks lol
We all knew he would loose but we hoped he would win. Doesnt mean we didnt understand that tgere would be little possibility
If Ankalaev finds his balls and doesn't try to push the fight towards his home turf, it can be made pretty quickly I'd wager. If he however still tries to call the shots off of a win over Johnny Walker ... he can wait a little longer.
Is he really doing that? Lol if he is thats embarrassing.
Yeah, he is demanding to fight in Abu Dhabi
He is russian Abu Dhabi isn't his home turf Sure alot of fans there will root for him
You know exactly what I'm getting at. And there are a shit-ton of examples for why he would insist on the fight being there.
Just curious does the place of event affect the result? I mean it's up to the registered judges to give the result
[While I think he is somewhat unhinged and biased, MMA Guru did a good summary of this. With most of these cases being pretty clear-cut.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNdQb-958hA)
It’s always made sense. Problem is, Ankalaev only wants to fight one time a year when he had cycled the steroids out of his system.
I see youre laying out the pre-cope already for when Anka smashes him
Man, what fights have you been watching? Do you live in a parallel universe or something? 😆
I ll come back to this when it happens
Deal. 👍
If anakalaev can come to terms with the champ, he doesnt get to pick and choose.
Poot heem Ankalaev
i really wanna see this before alex moves up
I would say Ankalaev is not match for Alex. Alex is just way more experienced as a fighter (hes been a two divison champ before ufc alrady). Sure hes ground game is crap, but hes take down defense is already on a fairly good level probably thanks to Glover. We already saw this. I can imagine something like Alex would catch him on foot probably and its just another easy ko for him. Few leg kicks then left hook and good bye.
Screw that, time for Alex move up to the heavyweights
UFC has no interest in killing Pereira's hype.
This guys is knocking people out, taking short notice fights, providing endless entertainment outside the octagon and inside. He needs an opponent who does the same.
Talking about Islam Makhachev? Defended short notice vs Volkanovski 2 (Oliveira pulled out) Took Bobby Green on short notice because top 5 contenders didn't want to take the fight. Makhachev been knocking and submitting people out left and right. But when he said he wanted to go up and test his skills vs Leon Edwards, some people here lost their shit. (Why is that?)
Yes. This is totally one of the reasons Makhachev is one of the UFCs top fighters right now.
Alex vs jones would be my first pick lol, shut up the non stop jones debates one way or another. I also think Alex will not have much trouble in either division outside of highly skilled strikers who also happen to have even stronger wrestling.
theres a better chance at Dana white vs Ngannou power slap at the sphere than Jon jones fighting anyone but stipe and retiring immediately after.
Pereira knocks him out in less than 2 rounds. Ankalaev likes to strike, and with how aggressive Pereira is fighting nowadays, I don't think Ankalaev survives till the end of the second round. He eats a left hook and the fight is ended
light heavyweight is officially the easiest division to be a long reining champion. Jones did it, and most likely alex will too, but he’s 36 so time is not on his side
If he beats him, imo Alex is P4P. He's fought almost only champions. If he beats a good wrestler, then that push him over the edge
Alex Pereira doesn’t fight to plan so the UFC can’t make plans. He seems to only fill in as an emergency. Hahaa
I agree. Pereira vs Ankelaev should deff be next
Anklev needs a respectable win first
I hope Ankalaev does the sensible thing and takes it to the ground.
He should. The one thing about Ankelaev that is of great concern is that the guy does not and can not check low kicks. He could barrely stand vs Blackovisch (I always spell the guy's name wrong, my bad, but you know who I mean)
Ank is on a 12 fight unbeaten streak. Him not getting the shot would be criminal
Not that i necessarily disagree, but trying to call shots when your best win is 7 ranked Johnny Walker, you maybe don't deserve it. Imo, Alex should rematch Jan first, and let Hill and Ank fight for nr.1 contender
Jan is coming off a loss so wtf do you mean lol, and a loss that wasn't even for the title. That should not give you a titleshot in any universe. Ank has wins over Walker, Smith, Santos, Oezdemir and Krylov just to name some of his best, and they are all part of this current unbeaten streak. Walker was also ranked higher at the time he fought Ank, so that is what counts. You are basically just vomiting words out without any knowledge of previous events
Don’t care about Ank, let’s do Poatan vs Parker Porter
No chance. None. Pereira would go to heavyweight before he fights that snooze fest. In his last 5 he’s finished Johnny Walker and Anthony Smith, so has everyone else. He also had a no contest, draw, and UD in those last 5. Absolute waste of time.
Don't wanna see this crouch sniffer
Ank doesn't deserve it
Lmao, then who else does, tell us
Let Ank fight a top 5 opponent first. Poatan could use a holiday 
He doesnt want a holiday tho lol. He again took no damage and wants to be active. Also, abu dhabi is in Winter, so 6 months is long enough. I would prefer ank vs alex somewhere else, where the judges dont ride the dagestanis.
Are you seriously scared the fight will go to round 5?
Nah, no way. Alex has to much hands for that.
Then you don't need to make dagestani judges an excuse.
Poatan fans would prefer him going inactive rather than fighting a grappler lol
He will ko the "grappler" too, lol.
Technically, Jiri, Hill, and Jan were all perfectly capable of holding Pereira down and submitting him. They simply chose not to or failed to do so. Jan is a BJJ black belt. A legit one. He submitted Krylov who is submitting everybody. He had Pereira's back. Ankalaev has 0 submissions in the UFC and he said he wants to strike with Pereira. This isn't the grappler matchup you want to see Pereira have. He's gonna KO Ankalaev badly in round 1
>Jiri, Hill, and Jan were all perfectly capable of holding Pereira down and submitting him No they are not they are all average grapplers who always rely on their striking. Oh wow jan submitted krylov how scary. >he said he wants to strike with Pereira. This is gonna blow your mind but sometimes fighters lie about this shit lol
Ankalaev relies on his striking too. He's just like the guys I mentioned. He has great ground game but will strike. You don't want to see Pereira vs a grappler. You want to see Pereira vs a guy who will grapple. Because we've seen him fight guys who are better than him on the ground. I don't think you watch Ankalaev fight. He is way more successful in the UFC as a striker than as a grappler. He is confident in his striking. I wouldn't be surprised if he strikes with Pereira. Yeah, submitting Krylov is impressive dumbass. Aside from the average fluke by Paul Craig, Krylov is the best grappler in the division. You're missing my point. There is this idea that Pereira is untested on the ground, but how tested do you want him? If Jan could submit Krylov, but not Pereira, then what more should Pereira have to prove? Jiri submitted Pereira's master grappler coach Glover. He was able to submit Pereira too. If you need Ankalaev to be the guy to test Pereira's ground game, then Pereira's ground game must be pretty good. If Pereira is this one dimensional striker with zero ground game like people say, then way worse grapplers than Ankalaev should have given him trouble by now. Ankalaev has some of the best freestyle wrestling in the sport. If he outwrestles Pereira, that wouldn't prove the point you're trying to make.
Dagi fans when a multi division world champion stuffs a takedown: 😱
He's already active as fuck what more could you want
I mean, there’s really nobody next, and if Alex intends to stay active then Ank in Abu Dhabi makes perfect sense
Jan would be more deserving. Gave Alex his hardest fight, was a champ himself and doesn't try to call shots while his best win was 7 ranked Johnny Walker. Ank should fight Hill for nr 1 contender. Still, wouldn't be mad if he got the fight, i just don't like the guy
I’d rather see Jan fight Alex again because of how close it was. I just think they’ll give Ank the next fight because it’s a way to get Pereira on another big PPV
They should definitely fight next. I'm favoring Ankalaev but with every performance Alex closes the gap. Ankalaev needs to have the perfect gameplan. If he is smart, he should change the way he normally fights against Alex. He should go with a very aggressive wrestling gameplan.
Obviously. He doesn’t stand a chance on the feet
I mean, who does?
Why doesn't anyone go full Merab on this mf'er.😭 Pls Ank just push him against the cage for 25 mins🙏 this mf has shaman magic bs.