Eh, I think it's 3-2 Ankalaev. For me, rounds 1 and 5 were Alex's. Ankalaev had a dominant round, round 2, but not enough to be a 10-8... He wasn't totally beating Poatan the whole time. He rocked him and got good points, ok, but it wasn't a beat down at all. It was just a clear 10-9, not a JJ vs Miocic round 1 or a anything that was almost stopped.
Round 3 I have the impression Ankalaev clearly did better, however I'd have to rewatch in better quality and with more attention. Sometimes it may be an impression since Alex was still hurt and more on the defensive, while Ankalaev was full of confidence... Idk though, the MMA fighters had mixed opinion on round 3. I think Tom Aspinall was watching it live and he said something like "close round, I think Ankalaev won, but I'm not sure..."
Round 4 was Ankalaev... But it was lackluster in the sense that he tried taking Alex down, could not, and held him against the cage the whole time, while not doing any significant damage nor anything... DC said it is part of the match, that it's up to the fighter to get out of it, but that's not true exactly as many judges just separate if they see there's no work being done. And I think that's fair, because Ankalaev wasn't getting anything significant, Pereira was defending very well, avoiding any meaningful shot, and then, Alex Pereira was the one who got the take down at the last second. It was kinda impressive tho lol he threw Ankalalev to the ground suddenly like nothing... Used a very good judo throw and Ankalaev fell flat on the ground. That wasn't a dominant round either. Ankalaev won, but... In a little of a coward way imo.
I mean, it's not like DC commenting there was watching a beat down. The way he spoke it sounded like when Jon Jones was keeping Glover on the fence and throwing heavy elbows, punches, clinching again, then throwing a storm of elbows... His left hand was barely hitting Alex with strength, and Alex got hold of Ank's left arm for the most part and got the takedown at the last second.
Round 5 was Alex's to me. The first head kick was actually partially blocked... It was impressive how Ankalaev could still partially block it as it was a very, very quick head kick, with no set up at all, which was thrown a second after the leg kick... It was incredibly fast, precise and it was a deadly combo since it was like bam the leg and one second later Alex was already kicking Ank's head. Ankalaev had an amazing reflex to partially block that, but it hurt him somewhat, as Ankalaev retreated many steps... Then Alex threw a jab to the body that put Ankalaev on the fence.
Another moment in the 5th round was when Ankalaev faked the takedown and immediately threw a deadly uppercut... Alex's reflexes were amazing since that set up was really, really quick... Alex saw that and dodged the uppercut by a thin hair... It couldn't be seen in normal speed, but I put in slow motion and right after Alex dodged the uppercut, Alex threw a left hand to Ankalaev's ribs (or the side of the body) — that's why when Ankalaev changed positions to the octagon center, it was visible his body was kinda shaken up, he seemed somewhat stunned. Ankalalev threw good kicks to the body again, but it seemed like Pereira was in a fuck it mode and ignored the pain and kept pressing. He got in a solid jab that was meaningful... Ankalaev pressed again, Pereira went to his right side and threw another very quick head kick... It was very well set up tho, the kick looked exactly like it'd hit the body, which was what Ankalaev protected, but Alex changed the trajectory so fast, and so... Idk, his movement flowed perfectly, but Ank again had a huge reflex to fully block that, but he clearly felt the impact as his head bounced off a little and he went to the takedown immediately.... He failed the takedown, didn't do anything meaningful other than stalling lulz. So round 5 I'm confident in giving to Alex.
Tbh, it really was a close fight. I think the impression it wasn't would be in terms of aggression, as Ankalaev was moving forwards more... But in terms of significant strikes, there is a good case for Alex to have won 1, 3 and 5... Neither which were dominant round. But the only dominant round for Ankalaev was round 2 and even that wasn't THAT dominant... He got in two big punches that rocked Alex, he wasn't endlessly beating Alex the entire round lol.
But the comments going to the 5th round were generally "either 3-1 Ankalaev or 2-2"... I feel it was 3-1, but... It's within the realm of possibilities that round 3 could be given to Alex...
Anyways, it was close. I agree with the official decision, but I could also see it as 3-2 Alex, no jokes... Oh, one significant moment in round 3 as well was when Ankalaev tried a take down, failed and Alex held him and threw a strong right hand, which visibly hurt Ankalalev a little. Well, well, close fight to me... It was by no means a dominant victory... The fight in general was, eh... It was lackluster. Pereira got rocked in the second round, but he recovered well enough to keep competitive and it just... Neither fighter damaged the other too much. I thought that whoever was going to win would almost kill the other guy lulz... I was even scared, but it's cool that it was a close fight and neither fighter got too hurt...
