Magomed Ankalaev beating Alex Pereira could butcher Dana White's plan for heavyweight, says ex-fighter: "UFC brass is praying to the MMA Gods"

Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub recently shared an intriguing theory about why Dana White and the UFC would want Alex Pereira to beat Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 this weekend.

Given that Pereira has fought and defeated most of the light heavyweight division's top-ranked contenders, Schuab speculated that if the Brazilian beats Ankalaev, the UFC may be interested in moving him up to heavyweight. He also stated that Ankalaev doesn't have the star power that Pereira does and wouldn't be as profitable to the company.

In an episode of the Thiccc Boy podcast, Schaub outlined his theory regarding the UFC 313 main event and said:

"If you don't think the UFC brass is praying to the MMA gods that Alex wins this fight... They can't create a star out of Ankalaev. You just can't. Alex is your biggest star and it's his fourth title defense in under a year, wild... So, if he beats Ankalaev, what's next for him? There's nothing at light heavyweight."

He continued:

"Alex Pereira knocks out Ankalaev, and then the next fight for Alex is against Tom Aspinall. The winner of that might get Jon [Jones] out of bed to start hitting the road doing some groundwork. The winner of Tom-Alex is going to fight Jon and and that's Jon's last fight."

Catch Brendan Schuab's comments below (18:10):

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UFC featherweight explains how Alex Pereira could struggle against Magomed Ankalaev

Movsar Evloev believes Magomed Ankalaev has what it takes to beat Alex Pereira and win the light heavyweight championship. The UFC featherweight recently lauded Ankalaev's skillset and shared his prediction for the matchup.

In a recent interview with Home of Fight, the undefeated UFC star explained why Ankalaev was "different" and said:

"Ankalaev, he's good enough to beat this guy and Pereira usually do not like defend himself very well because he believe his power and he just go through. But Ankalaev is different. He have high level skills, big experience of amateur MMA, and he's a monster in professional MMA. So we will see next champion."