Is Ankalaev underrated in his striking or is Poatan overrated in his striking?

[Takes Two To Tango]

I really was very impressed by Ankalaev striking.

He really made Poatan look not himself at all.

Ankalaev pushing forward most of the fight and Poatan backpedalling.

I underestimated Ankalaev striking no doubt.

And probably overestimated Poatan striking.

 

[Juzie]

Neither. Ankalaev is known to have good striking.

 

[HHJ]

its quite obvious before this that Ank is a very good striker.

 

[sdpdude9]

Pereira is a proven great striker across multiple sports. Ankalaev is/was underrated because he doesn’t have a super flashy or exciting striking style.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

I think Poatan just had an off night, maybe due to fear of takedown threats? Dude won like 2 belts in kickboxing, 2 belts in UFC, and slept Izzy. I would say his striking is still top 5-10 in MMA history

 

[svmr_db]

 

[forsh]

Pereira was a Glory world champion kickboxer in two divisions, his striking is world class....

 

[Skarsgard]

Neither. Ank's striking showed to be exactly what we thought it was. Alex has shown to have amazing striking against better strikers than Ank. Styles make fights and sometimes those fights make both fighters look worse.

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

You don't go 1-1 with Artem Vakhitov without having high level striking.

I think that it is more that we all slept on Ank's standup because of the Jan fight

 

[Kertol]

its quite obvious before this that Ank is a very good striker.

This, I was predicting Ankalaev to beat Pereira on the feet before the fight even happened.

 

[mangokush]

Alex is a better pure striker but Ank showed he was the better MMA striker

 

[HHJ]

against better strikers than Ank.

WHOMST?

 

[tgv976]

If Ank wasn't well rounded with the wrestling threat would have been a much different fight. Alex was too tentative for this reason. Way too tentative so probably was confused in there. Getting rocked didn't help. Ank fought smart, but doesn't mean Alex's skills have fallen off a cliff.

 

[J Danger]

Styles make fights. I think the rematch will be a better fight.

 

[Lawrence]

I think the question is moot.

Ank had the better gameplan and was also able to adjust tactics to some extend during the fight.

Alex, as great a striker and as good as his corner is, did not do these things.

 

[TrueBias]

I have no clue why anyone thought ank would be grapple heavy in his alex fight.

I stayed up the night before watching their past fights, and ank was a swarming striker that seemed perfect for alex.

I'm guessing alex really only focused on takedown defense cuz he team got fooled.

I'm also guessing that the rematch will have both guys prepping for the opposite.

 

[Skarsgard]

WHOMST?

Jiri, Izzy, and Khalil are all better strikers than Ank. Hill is arguable, but he probably just has awkward timing and decent power. They just don't have the threat of grappling or clinchwork to supplement rudimentary boxing and good timing.

 

[HHJ]

Jiri, Izzy, and Khalil are all better strikers than Ank. Hill is arguable, but he probably just has awkward timing and decent power. They just don't have the threat of grappling or clinchwork to supplement rudimentary boxing and good timing.

Are they? Are they really? I don't think this is so clear tbh.

 

[rjmbrd]

Ank is a really successful point kickboxer with competent grappling. Generally he hasn't been able to stop ranked fighters, and his ranked opponents produced really close fights, but he's looked like a good striker throughout his UFC tenure.

Alex had to defend a dozen take down attempts and was pressed against the cage for ~5 minutes of a 25 min fight. So literally 20% of the fight was Alex dealing with wall & stall.

Everyone knows worrying about getting taken down limits your offense, but that is up to Alex to get out of there.

Now add in that Alex is nearing 40 years of age and is overdue to look less athletic. IMO exactly nothing should change about what the consensus was for both fighters before the fight.

 

[rjmbrd]

Jiri, Izzy, and Khalil are all better strikers than Ank. Hill is arguable, but he probably just has awkward timing and decent power. They just don't have the threat of grappling or clinchwork to supplement rudimentary boxing and good timing.

Izzy most certainly is (in his prime, he's aged out)

Jiri gets hit too much and is collecting brain damage for his style. I have a hard time agreeing he's "better" than Ank who is rarely out of position and doesn't get dropped/tagged regularly. Hill hits harder, I wouldn't say he's better, and demonstrably he's not more effective at winning fights.

Khalil is a better striker AND has more power, that is the only one I'll agree with cleanly here. He sucks at grappling of course and that is his big limitation.