Consensus on Ankalaev?

[Sean Chowdhury]

You rarely see a dagestani on a 13 fight unbeaten streak that has little to no hype but that's the case with ankalaev even though he's looked pretty good every time he fought.

Dropped volkan and pieced him up for the whole fight

Took krylov down in round 2 and 3 and controlled him on the ground, krylov is considered one of the best wrestlers at LHW and ankalaev outwrestled him

Shut out rakic and consistently landed left straights to the body and head, wasn't the most exciting fight but he made a top level LHW look harmless.

Only bad performance was the Jan fight where he got his legs chewed up and had to panic wrestle, it was a low IQ first 3 rounds from ankalaev but he did 10-8 Jan on the ground in round 5 when he decided to heavy wrestle

This may be a hot take but I think ankalaev is basically a nightmare matchup for alex, he's a southpaw with a nasty left hand similar to khalil and he has excellent defense and distance management. He has good takedowns when he decides to go for them, this isn't sloppy gut Hill who fights like a bar brawler, alex will have to find the perfect shot on someone with a massive wrestling advantage that has solid power of his own and 5 round cardio

 

[Luthien]

 

[Domitian]

He's a great fighter. His biggest weakness though is his fight IQ. This is a guy who decided to strike with Santos (he got dropped) and grapple with Craig. You already talked about the Jan fight. If this guy had the fight IQ of GSP he'd be the GOAT. We'll just have to see if he can mentally put it together.

 

[Schoolboy Q]

He’s a very good but underwhelming fighter. He’s got the skills and good wins under his belt but I’m just left wanting more when he fights elite fighters. Clear cut #1 contender, this shouldn’t be a debate.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

You rarely see a dagestani on a 13 fight unbeaten streak that has little to no hype but that's the case with ankalaev even though he's looked pretty good every time he fought.

Dropped volkan and pieced him up for the whole fight

Took krylov down in round 2 and 3 and controlled him on the ground, krylov is considered one of the best wrestlers at LHW and ankalaev outwrestled him

This may be a hot take but I think ankalaev is basically a nightmare matchup for alex, he's a southpaw with a nasty left hand similar to khalil and he has excellent defense and distance management. He has good takedowns when he decides to go for them, this isn't sloppy gut Hill who fights like a bar brawler, alex will have to find the perfect shot on someone with a massive wrestling advantage that has solid power of his own and 5 round cardio

Ankalaev Grappling Stats:

1 TD per fight on average, 30% TD accuracy
2/10 against Jan.
1/4 against mighty wrestler Volkan Oezdimir.
1/2 against post-exploded-knees Thiago Santos.
3/9 against Krylov
1/3 against Klidson Abreu (who???)
1/3 against Dalcha Lungiambula (literally who?)
Got taken down by Paul Craig twice, then submitted.

0 sub attempts, seemingly ever.

He's going to get starched standing because he has low fight IQ after Poatan stuffs the panic shot.

CHAMAGA

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

Ankalaev Grappling Stats:

1 TD per fight on average, 30% TD accuracy
2/10 against Jan.
1/4 against mighty wrestler Volkan Oezdimir.
1/2 against post-exploded-knees Thiago Santos.
3/9 against Krylov
1/3 against Klidson Abreu (who???)
1/3 against Dalcha Lungiambula (literally who?)
Got taken down by Paul Craig twice, then submitted.

0 sub attempts, seemingly ever.

He's going to get starched standing because he has low fight IQ after Poatan stuffs the panic shot.

CHAMAGA

View attachment 1073957

Jiri and adesanya landed their first takedown attempt in the UFC on Pereira, it's possible he gets taken down by honest abe even though his wrestling isn't that good

 

[Luffy]

He's good, ofc, but idk, I think that a fight between him and Jiri Prochakza would be very good. Like, stylistically, Anakalaev is harder for Poatan than Jiri, for sure... But as for Anakalaev, I think Jiri would put up a good fight or maybe even win.

 

[Luffy]

That crazy style from Jiri seems to mesh very well with good strikers, but not absolute elite ones like Poatan. And I think that Jiri may be able to survive his wrestling considering Jiri has done very well when taken down and seems just hard to submit, it seems the guy doesn't stop...

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Jiri and adesanya landed their first takedown attempt in the UFC on Pereira, it's possible he gets taken down by honest abe even though his wrestling isn't that good

Of course it is, and what's he going to do? He isn't going to sub Alex, that's for sure.
I don't believe that he can hold Alex down for a majority of the fight before he gets blasted, but we'll see.

 

[MarkHuntFanboy]

He's slightly overrated. Couldn't even handle a 40 yo Jan Blachowicz. Still, he'd beat the living shit out of Alex Pereira.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Overhyped by sociopaths

 

[Doctor Grudge]

I think he's clearly a championship caliber fighter, but he's not a world beater like Makhachev and the like.

Perhaps as good as Jiri and prime Jan and the like, maybe a bit worse or a bit better.

 

[Kratos94]

I'll be surprised if he doesn't get chinned against Pereira.

 

[ferrisjso]

Hes the real champ.

Pereiras a fraud fighting barely ranked and opponents with achilles tears. Pereiras fake champ. This is the real LHW lineage.

 

[Prince Nephilim]

He’s good but not as dangerous as he is tough

 

[Lord Pyjamas]

Ankalaev Grappling Stats:

1 TD per fight on average, 30% TD accuracy
2/10 against Jan.
1/4 against mighty wrestler Volkan Oezdimir.
1/2 against post-exploded-knees Thiago Santos.
3/9 against Krylov
1/3 against Klidson Abreu (who???)
1/3 against Dalcha Lungiambula (literally who?)
Got taken down by Paul Craig twice, then submitted.

0 sub attempts, seemingly ever.

He's going to get starched standing because he has low fight IQ after Poatan stuffs the panic shot.

CHAMAGA

View attachment 1073957

Still crazy how Donalds hands can be half the size of a normal man!
Is it some kind of genetic disease? I have never seen anything like it.

 

[dildos]

he will never be champ.

 

[ThaiSexPills]

He looked mid in all of the fights I’ve seen of him. The hype is there solely because he’s a neckbeard and Alex hasn’t faced an elite wrestler.

Anklaev isn’t that but Alex haters convinced themselves he’s that because of the name and hometown and are going with it. Anklaev is a kick-boxer primarily and not an exciting one at that. I have no idea why weirdos dream of an exciting, active champion getting wet blanketed by a guy who fights once a year tops.

Still, Anklaev is the only guy right now with a real claim to a title fight. Should Alex smash him, I think Alex has officially cleaned out the division. Anklaev / pereira should happen early in the new year and then when the HW title situation is figured out, pereira can fight for that if he gets through Anklaev

 

[storeybuckle]

Hes the real champ.

Pereiras a fraud fighting barely ranked and opponents with achilles tears. Pereiras fake champ. This is the real LHW lineage.

Real champ? I swear I saw him in a title fight and he walked away empty handed!

 

[richardjohnson]

Regardless of your opinion of him he’s by far the most deserving of a title fight and him vs Pereira is the most intriguing matchup they can make in that division right now. Some people like to claim Alex is scared of Magomed but I don’t think that’s true at all, however it is clear that Alex’s biggest supporters fear that Ankalaev would beat him with how vehemently against this matchup they are.