Alex Pereira's coach dismisses UFC 313 loss to Magomed Ankalaev, vows to deliver "Poatan 2.0" in potential rematch with bold fight prediction

Alex Pereira's coach, Plinio Cruz, doesn't believe his pupil lost to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313. Nevertheless, the defeat is official, so he is now focused on preparing 'Poatan' to perform better in the rematch, which is expected to be the next fight for the two light heavyweights.

Cruz shared his thoughts on the matchup with Ankalaev in a recently shared video on Pereira's YouTube channel. It was a closely contested fight, but Cruz simply doesn't think it was scored correctly. In the rematch, though, there will be no room for mistakes.

"In times of adversity, in times of where is where the human being evolves even more. The rivalry make us grow. This time it went his way, so we'll train more, study more, get better, to deliver you a better version of 'Poatan'. More sinister."

This meaner version of Pereira that's being promised will be something to behold, as he has run through nearly every other relevant light heavyweight besides Ankalaev himself.

"What this guy's done was make it worse for him because now he'll face 'Poatan 2.0.' This has happened to 'Poatan' before, it's not the first time. He has experience in this, and a true champion is the one that stumbles but continues moving forward and reconquers it. 'Poatan' will reconquer the belt in the rematch."

Check out Alex Pereira's coach sharing his thoughts on the UFC 313 loss (7:23):

Cruz wasted no time in campaigning for an immediate title rematch for Pereira following the UFC 313 loss to Ankalaev. Fortunately for them, that also appears to be in UFC CEO Dana White's interest.

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This is just the second loss Alex Pereira has suffered in the UFC

Alex Pereira has only ever lost twice in the UFC. Magomed Ankalaev dethroning him as light heavyweight champion marks the second time he has tasted defeat in the promotion. The other loss was, curiously, also a title fight, but at middleweight, where he took on Israel Adesanya in a rematch at UFC 287.

Check out Alex Pereira's loss to Israel Adesanya:

Their first encounter was at UFC 281, which Pereira won via fifth-round TKO in a spectacular comeback. However, their second encounter did not go the Brazilian's way. Instead, 'Poatan' suffered a massive knockout loss in round two, losing the middleweight title to Adesanya.