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Magomed Ankalaev dethroned Alex Pereira from the light heavyweight throne in a closely contested fight at UFC 313 to become the new champion. He walked into the fight banking heavily on his fighting style, which involves combat sambo and striking. Ankalaev thanked former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov after the fight and credited him for his success.
The 32-year-old kept Pereira in check and forced him to adopt a relatively less aggressive game plan in the showdown. He secured a unanimous decision victory and eventually walked home with the light heavyweight gold.
Nurmagomedov took to his X account and congratulated his fellow countryman for the historic victory:
"Congratulations Brother @AnkalaevM you made a history. It was amazing performance against very tough opponent."
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The newly crowned light heavyweight champion offered his homage to the UFC legend in response and acknowledged the impact he has had on his career:
"Thank you my brother you beginning the way for us."
Check out Magomed Ankalaev's response below:
Daniel Cormier shares his opinion on Magomed Ankalaev's victory over Alex Pereira at UFC 313
Magomed Ankalaev defeated Alex Pereira in a contest that remained mostly on feet. Pereira has a reputation for chopping the legs of his rivals with his leg kicks and then knocking them out with his signature left hook.
However, Ankalaev kept pressuring the Brazilian, who didn't advance as he usually does in his fights. Daniel Cormier who was calling the fight cage side, shared his thoughts on the newly crowned champion's monumental victory over 'Poatan.'
"Magomed Ankalaev fought a beautiful fight. Honestly Pereira landed a few jabs and in round 5 he landed a nice head kick but the vast majority of fight it was Magomed Ankalaev pressuring him, able to land shots, maybe not big shots but land shots, and fight him very competitvely on the feet."
He continued:
"I believe the reason he was able to fight him so well on the feet though is because he has that threat of the wrestling and when you have that threat of the wrestling it makes you a much harder person to deal with."
Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below (2:34):
