Outside Source
Alex Pereira will rematch Magomed Ankalaev on Oct. 4. | 📷: Jeff Botari/Zuffa LLC/Getty
Alex Pereira will look to reclaim the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title when he rematches Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 320 main event on Oct. 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ankalev took a unanimous decision from the “Poatan” in their first encounter some five months ago, even though it was contested entirely on the feet.
While Pereira showed clear improvements in his takedown defense, the Russian outstruck him statistically in the second, fourth and fifth rounds. All three judges scored it for Ankalaev: 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47. Aware that their next fight could unfold differently, Pereira has focused heavily on grappling with coach and former UFC champion Glover Teixiera. His work caught the attention of Gilbert Burns, widely regarded as one of the most technical representatives of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the UFC.
“I liked what I saw. There wasn’t anything ‘wow’ about it,” Burns said on his Portuguese YouTube channel. “I think he’ll improve by coming back and getting into shape for the camp, but from the little I saw, I could tell he’s confident in the guillotine and confident in his back defense. He’s starting to do the lift. I’m enjoying seeing his jiu-jitsu progress.”
Burns made it clear that revealing too much in training can have negative consequences.
“Remember when [Pereira] knocked out Jiri [Prochazka] in the second fight? He saw Jiri warming up with his hand low and thought about throwing a high kick,” he said. “I think the opposite is also true. He’s showing everyone a lot. If I were Ankalaev’s ground game coach, I’d take a lot of things and say, ‘We can work on that.’ There are those dangers.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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