"He's willing to win in more exciting ways" - Cory Sandhagen praises Magomed Ankalaev's standup display against Alex Pereira at UFC 313

Magomed Ankalaev surprised many fans at UFC 313 when he found success in the striking realm against Alex Pereira, one of the sport's most revered strikers. Now, one of the promotion's best strikers across divisions, Cory Sandhagen, has heaped praise on the new champion's performance.

The Russian declared prior to their bout that he would not look to take 'Poatan' to the ground, which is largely considered to be the weakest aspect of Pereira's skillset.

Ankalaev stuck to his pre-fight prediction, as he kept the fight standing for the majority of the five-round title bout. He also landed the most powerful shots of the contest, nearly dropping Pereira to the canvas with a huge left hand in Round 2, and was eventually awarded a unanimous decision victory.

Following UFC 313, Sandhagen was interviewed by James Lynch, where he shared his thoughts on the recently held light heavyweight title fight. He said:

"Ankalaev kind of showed it in the fourth [round]. If he wanted to and needed to, he could just pin Pereira against the fence and win like that. But Ankalaev showed that he's willing to win in more exciting ways, which I think is cool. To me that fourth round said a lot because it was like, 'Hey man, if I want to do this to you, I can. The only reason I'm striking with you is just because I want the fans to have a good time.' I thought that was really cool on Ankalaev's part."

Check out Cory Sandhagen praise Magomed Ankalaev's win below (12:45):

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Tom Aspinall applauds Magomed Ankalaev but left stunned by fans reaction to Alex Pereira's loss

UFC 313 saw Alex Pereira put his light heavyweight title on the line for a fourth time, where he was dethroned by Magomed Ankalaev. The fight was competitive, but Ankalaev was able to dominate many exchanges on the feet, as well as control his opponent with grappling, particularly in the fourth round.

Interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who had previously discussed a potential mega-fight with Pereira, shared his reaction to the 205-pound title fight and slammed fans who thought 'Poatan' had won the fight.

Aspinall's reaction came during a recent interview with Jamal Niaz, where he said:

"Ankalaev just had him guessing a lot... He was trying to tire him out with the grappling standing... I think Ankalaev had the perfect game plan... I can’t believe people watched that fight and thought that Pereira won. It was just wild to me how many uneducated fans are out there."

Check out Tom Aspinall's comments below (6:45):