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Cory Sandhagen has chimed in on Magomed Ankalaev's title-winning performance against Alex Pereira at UFC 313. 'The Sandman' alluded to key elements from the fight, in addition to also weighing in on the potential Ankalaev vs. Pereira rematch.
Ankalaev defeated Pereira via unanimous decision at the UFC 313 event earlier this month and became the new UFC light heavyweight champion. Certain sections of the MMA community disagreed with the judges' scorecards, with some fans even asserting that Pereira had been robbed of a deserved victory on points.
On the other hand, some argued that grappling savant Magomed Ankalaev outworked striking great Alex Pereira on the feet and wobbled him in round two, albeit he was unable to effectively score takedowns against the Brazilian.
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In a recent interview with Bodog Canada's James Lynch, UFC bantamweight contender and striking wizard Cory Sandhagen addressed various topics. Sandhagen discussed his upcoming fight against Deiveson Figueiredo that'll go down on May 3, 2025. He also touched upon the Ankalaev-Pereira fight and opined that 'Poatan' had some good moments despite losing the fight:
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"Yeah, I thought Ankalaev looked amazing, man. He looked pretty in control almost the entire fight. Pereira had his moments, and he won, I think, a couple of the rounds for sure. But, I mean, Ankalaev kind of showed it in the fourth, that 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.' And I thought that that was cool on Ankalaev's part, and it just shows how good he is too. So, an amazing fight. They'll probably do a rematch for that one," he added.
Sandhagen recounted that he himself faced the psychological challenges a striker faces when excessively worried about imminent takedowns from a skilled grappler, which makes the striker hesitant to fight freely. The American implied that Alex Pereira would have to overcome that mental hurdle to beat Magomed Ankalaev in a rematch.
Check out Cory Sandhagen's comments below (12:42):
Cory Sandhagen highlighted a key tactic that helped Magomed Ankalaev beat Alex Pereira at UFC 313
Presently, the belief is that recently-crowned UFC light heavyweight titleholder Magomed Ankalaev could potentially defend his title in an immediate rematch against former divisional kingpin Alex Pereira. Many fans have since speculated about what changes Pereira could bring in his strategy and tactics in the expected rematch against Ankalaev.
Taking to Instagram, Cory Sandhagen recounted a key tactic from their first fight. He suggested that Magomed Ankalaev was a truly skilled southpaw striker. He made an allusion to the martial arts dogma that in a southpaw vs. orthodox (open-stance) striking battle, one must attack from the outside of the opponent's lead leg.
Emphasizing that Ankalaev fought tremendously from the inside too, Sandhagen wrote:
"The best lefties fight to the inside and outside. Don't get lost in old dogma, grasshoppers!"
Check out Cory Sandhagen's post below:
