Tom Aspinall Reacts to Alex Pereira’s Victory at UFC 320: 'I Was Wrong'

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

​

The UFC 320 headliner didn’t go the way Tom Aspinall expected it to go.

Alex Pereira reclaimed the light heavyweight crown with an 80-second technical knockout victory over Magomed Ankalaev in Saturday’s main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “Poatan” rocked his Dagestani rival with an overhand right, then forced the stoppage with a serie of vicious elbows on the canvas. It was a far cry from their first meeting, when Ankalaev earned a tactical, five-round verdict over Pereira at UFC 313 this past March.


Heading into the rematch, Aspinall predicted that Ankalaev would prevail once again, but the UFC’s heavyweight king had no problem admitting his assessment was incorrect.

"What's that? One minute, 20 [seconds] something like that? Pereira just absolutely ran through him," Aspinall said on his YouTube channel. "Look, I was wrong. I was wrong. That's very, very, very impressive. He made some good adjustments technically where he was putting [Ankalaev] on the back foot more than he was in the first fight. In the first fight, he was guessing what Ankalaev was going to do constantly. Whereas in this fight, Pereira is just constantly keeping him guessing, walking him backwards, making him feel threatened. Ankalaev couldn’t get anything off. Pereira is back.”

Options Wide Open for ‘Poatan’​

After his triumph, Pereira suggested that a heavyweight move was imminent. However, the Brazilian dismissed the possibility of facing the winner of the title clash between Aspinall and Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 on Oct. 25. Instead, “Poatan” targeted a meeting with Jon Jones at the White House. If Pereira remains at 205 pounds, Carlos Ulberg appears to be the next logical contender.

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Tom Aspinall Reacts to Alex Pereira’s Victory at UFC 320: 'I Was Wrong'

The UFC 320 headliner didn’t go the way Tom Aspinall expected it to go.

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[sdpdude9]

I was too. I knew if Pereira was to win it was probably going to be by pressuring and finding the shot early which he was capable of doing. But I thought it was more likely he wouldn’t and would become open for counters and takedowns. But he did it, I was dead wrong. Not the first time nor will it be the last, that’s why this sport is awesome.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

I thought it would take Poatan a round to find his range, then he would blast Ank in the 2nd.
Didn't even need that, it was as simple as "Pressure immediately, force stance switch, blast overhand."

I thought he would need to establish good timing on outside foot position and win an exchange during hand fighting. Sometimes we may find ourselves lost in the details, forgetting it's a fist fight

 

[flektarn]

Aspinall shook, confirmed.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

I was too. I knew if Pereira was to win it was probably going to be by pressuring and finding the shot early which he was capable of doing. But I thought it was more likely he wouldn’t and would become open for counters and takedowns. But he did it, I was dead wrong. Not the first time nor will it be the last, that’s why this sport is awesome.

Same.

I think I was skeptical of just how fucked up Alex was, going into that first fight physically as well. I thought based off that performance that Ank would just pin him against the cage again and control where the fight took place.

Looking at how he literally just carved straight through Ank in the rematch, I think he actually was telling the truth that he was nowhere near even 90% in that first fight.

He looked super timid, and barely threw any power strikes.

This fight was the polar opposite.

 

[AndrewGolota48]

I was too. I knew if Pereira was to win it was probably going to be by pressuring and finding the shot early which he was capable of doing. But I thought it was more likely he wouldn’t and would become open for counters and takedowns. But he did it, I was dead wrong. Not the first time nor will it be the last, that’s why this sport is awesome.

I thought the same thing. Everyone will be in denial about it but it's still possible we could've been right, at the end of the day Poatan landed one punch of significance....I didn't think he would finish Ank that easily, and could've been very different had the fight went past a few minutes. Poatan went for broke and it worked.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

I was curious if Fathead had anything to say about this. He's taken jabs at Alex every time he could, going as to far as saying that Jamahal Hill was better in every facet of MMA

 

[RockyLockridge]

I thought it would take Poatan a round to find his range, then he would blast Ank in the 2nd.
Didn't even need that, it was as simple as "Pressure immediately, force stance switch, blast overhand."

I thought he would need to establish good timing on outside foot position and win an exchange during hand fighting. Sometimes we may find ourselves lost in the details, forgetting it's a fist fight

I think from the last fight sort of gave poatan the whole scope of what to worry about, as im sure everyone noticed he was quick to engage and not allow anakalev to get into any rythm, from up close ankalaev is not nearly as dangerous as periera

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

He's taken jabs at Alex every time he could, going as to far as saying that Jamahal Hill was better in every facet of MMA

I absolutely need a source on that

 

[SuperNerd]

The fact Jon is going to steal this fight from him too is so sad, its funny

 

[sdpdude9]

Same.

I think I was skeptical of just how fucked up Alex was, going into that first fight physically as well. I thought based off that performance that Ank would just pin him against the cage again and control where the fight took place.

Looking at how he literally just carved straight through Ank in the rematch, I think he actually was telling the truth that he was nowhere near even 90% in that first fight.

He looked super timid, and barely threw any power strikes.

This fight was the polar opposite.

I thought the same thing. Everyone will be in denial about it but it's still possible we could've been right, at the end of the day Poatan landed one punch of significance....I didn't think he would finish Ank that easily, and could've been very different had the fight went past a few minutes. Poatan went for broke and it worked.

I think what we saw the first time around is what it looks like when Ankalaev is able to execute his gameplan. What we saw this time is what it looks like when Pereira executes his gameplan.

While I’m sure this will be a controversial take given that hype for Pereira is at an all time high (deservedly so) as well as recency bias, I don’t know that Pereira always just walks through him like that. I think you might see a dramatically different fight yet again in a trilogy. Not that I’m saying Ank wins a trilogy, just that I think there’s a high likelihood it plays out quite a bit differently than the first or the second fight.

 

[Luthien]

What else is he wrong about

 

[Mike]

I absolutely need a source on that

Probably just Ali on his Twitter again.

 

[JBJ was here]

I'm not really sure if I was wrong about this fight. I thought that if Poatan really had been significantly injured and sick the first time around that a Poatan (T)KO was the most likely rematch result, but my guess was that he was a bit sick and injured but mostly just getting old. What happened was well within the range of my expectations for if Poatan would come into the fight significantly healthier and take it a bit more seriously, but I thought the most likely result was something close to a repeat of the first fight, with Poatan being a little healthier and older and Ank being pretty much the same as he was for the first fight.

What does seem clear to me now is that Poatan really should have pulled out of the first fight. He was in no condition to fight and it was a pretty bad fight.

 

[Streeter]

Aspinall shook, confirmed.

Not as shook as Ulberg was watching it they interviewed Ulberg he refused to even call him out in slightest even said hes done it all at LHW he understsnds him going to HW. Saying that about the Chsmp Pereria when you're a top 2 contender. Dont remember seeing a contender in that situation looking that shook.

 

[Jackonfire]

I thought it would take Poatan a round to find his range, then he would blast Ank in the 2nd.
Didn't even need that, it was as simple as "Pressure immediately, force stance switch, blast overhand."

I thought he would need to establish good timing on outside foot position and win an exchange during hand fighting. Sometimes we may find ourselves lost in the details, forgetting it's a fist fight

I always tune out when Buffer is doing hour long introductions for the main event. I was looking at my phone and heard Herb Dean say"Lets fight" and looked up and Poatan was already across the octagon throwing a combo. I knew right then he was going to win. I had him down for a 2nd round KO but he wasn't wasting time.

 

[Xanzito]

If Jones fight Poatan and not Aspinal, dude's gonna be so pissed... Most of us will be too, tho.

 

[PeterGriffin]

Same.

I think I was skeptical of just how fucked up Alex was, going into that first fight physically as well. I thought based off that performance that Ank would just pin him against the cage again and control where the fight took place.

Looking at how he literally just carved straight through Ank in the rematch, I think he actually was telling the truth that he was nowhere near even 90% in that first fight.

He looked super timid, and barely threw any power strikes.

This fight was the polar opposite.

It was about 45 seconds in to the first round and I was telling my buddies that something was wrong. Regardless of what went wrong for Alex, Ank still fought his perfect gameplan as well and earned the win. Frankly, the most impressive takeaway from that fight was Alex's TDD. I expected him to get manhandled.

Probably just Ali on his Twitter again.

I thought I heard Ankalaev shit-canned Ali today.

I always tune out when Buffer is doing hour long introductions for the main event. I was looking at my phone and heard Herb Dean say"Lets fight" and looked up and Poatan was already across the octagon throwing a combo. I knew right then he was going to win. I had him down for a 2nd round KO but he wasn't wasting time.

The very first punch of the fight Alex threw with bad intentions. It was blocked, but it still hurt Ank and made an immediate statement. Ank's going to need a few months to heal those ribs up.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

I thought it would take Poatan a round to find his range, then he would blast Ank in the 2nd.
Didn't even need that, it was as simple as "Pressure immediately, force stance switch, blast overhand."

I thought he would need to establish good timing on outside foot position and win an exchange during hand fighting. Sometimes we may find ourselves lost in the details, forgetting it's a fist fight

Strange how AP’s kicks didn’t do anything in the first fight, but in this fight, he only had to land three on the inside of Ank’s leg before Ank had enough and switched stance.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Strange how AP’s kicks didn’t do anything in the first fight, but in this fight, he only had to land three on the inside of Ank’s leg before Ank had enough and switched stance.

He put the bunions on that boy