Poatan was extremely inactive

[piropiro]

He’s not the most active of fighters but usually he presses forward for a reasonable percentage of the fight, engages more often, stays in power punching range … I don’t know if it was the takedown threat or some other reason, but he just seemed to be somewhat out of the fight, always on the back foot and extremely inactive.

 

[alchemy]

He was afraid of getting countered. That's what Magomed excels at.

 

[tritestill]

Ank dictated the entire fight and was in control. Alex can't fight like that again.

 

[Pain4Pain]

Alex's first gear is landing enough calf kicks to disrupt his opponent's rhythm. After that didn't work he didn't commit to another strategy.

 

[octagonation]

He was hesitant because ank was fast with his punches whenever poatan gets on the inside hence he spend most of the fight on the outside to avoid being on the inside because ank was most dangerous there

 

[piropiro]

Ank dictated the entire fight and was in control. Alex can't fight like that again.

Absolutely, he becomes frozen and cannot use any of his strengths.

 

[MMAFanCal]

Ankalaev is very sound defensively. He also is great at countering. Also, the threat of the takedown was something everyone knew would wear him down.

 

[Rektkid]

I think Ank walking him down in a nonchalant manner rattled Alex. When Ank commits, he hits very very hard and it made Alex hesitant.

 

[piropiro]

He was hesitant because ank was fast with his punches whenever poatan gets on the inside hence he spend most of the fight on the outside to avoid being on the inside because ank was most dangerous there

He fought other fast strikers and didn’t do that … I can only think of the takedown threat or maybe some kind of psychological issue, for example he didn’t prepare as well as usual and wasn’t feeling confident.

I was just surprised by the total lack of activity, he hardly threw a punch.

 

[djason1988]

I'll say it if nobody else will.

I think Alex bought into his own hype. He spent the whole fight loading up that left hand, looking for a big hook. Normally, his finishes happen organically. Here, he looked like he was just waiting to throw that bomb. If he fight that way against Rountree, Jan, or Jiri, he loses to all 3 of them too.

 

[FightFan87]

The legs kicks didn't slow him down but was fighting his normal fight then got clinched at end of first. After that he was on his back foot losing the outside foot position until he got rocked. Both things stayed in his head until the end. Feel like he landed more in 1,3,5 but was on the retreat for 4 rounds and lost two rounds definitively.