Why wasn’t Poatan allowed to punch tonight?

[mraa1]

He had 100% takedown defense though. That's what was frustrating. He was still hesitant

Probably because that's where all his focus was at. 100% TDD doesn't mean much when you can't do anything else except wait for another takedown attempt.

 

[JBGuy420]

Probably because that's where all his focus was at. 100% TDD doesn't mean much when you can't do anything else except wait for another takedown attempt.

Yeah that's where his mind was at this entire fight. Super frustrating.

 

[mraa1]

Yeah that's where his mind was at this entire fight. Super frustrating.

Yeah I get you but the good thing is that it should give him some confidence in that area, at least I would think. Not a fan of instant rematches but it could be interesting in this case

 

[balkanbomber85]

Thats was his 4th fight in a year, he was traveling around and not training properly and thinking about the boxing millions he would get with a fight gainst Usyk.

Ive never seen Pereira that off and it had not that much to do with Ank per se.

 

[DoctorStoppage]

Ankalaev was great with his counters and always had the threat of a takedown. As simple as that.

 

[r-harper-1]

LHW sucks lol

 

[Chayanne]

From my limited MMA knowledge, Ankalaev is left, Pereira could not give his best kick 100% on the right leg of his opponent. Footwork of Ankalaev was also good, which caused Pereira to retreat. The power hand of Pereira left, was treunified by Ankalaev by his speed and footwork. In addition, the takedown fear for Pereira was big, which caused Pereira not to want to punch 100%

 

[Substance Abuse]

Love Alex but give Ank credit, he fought a great fight.

Pretty much this. It isn't rocket science - pressure changes fights, especially when a wrestler is fighting a striker. It's why Sonnen was able to drop Anderson and Khabib dropped Conor. People around here have the memory of a goldfish, however. At the end of the day, Ankalaev fought well. Props to him.

 

[Conan the K-9]

The CORRUPT moozlem sheiks of Abu Dhabi traveled all the way to the US and threatened GOATAN to throw the fight or they will kill his entire family!1!!!

You might be on to something, but I also heard that Dana is investing in boxing, so they need Poatan there.

 

[Striker Fox]

Pereira did what he had to do to not get taken down in the middle. He was terrified of getting caught off balance and taken down.

timestamp

 

[moosaev]

Pretty much this. It isn't rocket science - pressure changes fights, especially when a wrestler is fighting a striker. It's why Sonnen was able to drop Anderson and Khabib dropped Conor. People around here have the memory of a goldfish, however. At the end of the day, Ankalaev fought well. Props to him.

I think it was Ank’s counter striking more than the takedown threat. When someone with faster hands stings you with counters you don’t see a few times, your output takes a nose dive.

 

[kahymo]

Alex was trying too hard to land his left hook,
but Ankalaev head movement did not allow it

 

[Roids]

It wasn't just from the take down threat. Ank's hands and movement were also shutting him down.

 

[ElLunico]

Ank is very difficult to hit. He is also fast for LHW and obviously has some power. He has very few losses for a reason. I've never seen him in great danger other than getting his leg chopped up by Jan

 

[orca]

Am I watching WWE by mistake?

2009 acct and still cant figure out threats of takedowns
looool

seriously dude
how did jones and gsp outstriked strikers?

 

[bjjwar]

DC and others pointed that out alot and i agreed a couple of weeks back, i dont think he prepared himself well. He was touring in Korea, Australia, etc. How the fu** are you doing sponsorship video’s in frking Australia 2 weeks before your fight? Sorry, thats unprofessional. Its what? A 15hr flight to Vegas? Its ridiculous.

 

[bjjwar]

rakic had the same issue, ankalaev just makes guys scared with pressure I guess, maybe he hits deceptively hard or something

You might be onto sth here. Ank looks like CM Punk out there, he barely throws and fights like he just poopee his pants and his opponents somehow fight as if they would have gotten a crocodile tranquilizer shot lol

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

Because Ank actually has boxing skills and isn't these MMA brawler bums like Poatans previous opponents.

 

[Michaelangelo]

If it was WWE it would have actually been entertaining

 

[Tweak896]

I can't wait until Jack slacks breakdown, wish he still posted here. But it was a great composed performance by Ank. Alex is used to being patient and slowly setting up the KO, but Ank played it perfectly defensively. Reminds me how Cro Cop didn't like the pressure.

The kicker was when Alex thought his leg kicks were going to pay off and he'd have a slow target for him to light up later like Rountree, that Ank switched to clinching him. Basically outplayed Pereira. It's MMA and Ank has a wider skill set than Alex, even though I wish Alex KO'd everyone as champ for the next 3 years.