They might let Ankalav come in at like 250lbs too lol "scale looks good to me"the problem is fighting in abu dhabi may affect who is favored to win the fight, not just who is fan favorite. non-muslim fighters would be wise to avoid fighting there.
Whats the trend with title challengers thinking they call all the shots lately? Seen a few cases now where the challengers thinks they can name the time and place and the champ just has to show up.
Would be a great fight for the Sphere.
I would advise him not to fight in Perth. Isn't Australia one of the countries that heavily taxes the fighters?
He's almost 40 he won't get any better with itYea, Ank has a chin but he's never faced a striker like Poatan. If Ank was smart, he'd take that fight a lot sooner before Poatan gets better with his grappling.
or they might mess with poatan’s scale and then strip him for missing weight. who knows. all sort of backwards shit happens there. at this point, i think we can rule out the possibility of it all being unfortunate coincidences.They might let Ankalav come in at like 250lbs too lol "scale looks good to me"
I also think, because of his counter punching ability...He can catch poatan the way Izzy did. We've seen him lay guys out w his countersAnk is a very solid challenge, particularly with the grappling.
If it goes down, I hope Poatan chin checks him.
Most likely soonest they’d book Pereira is the Noche card in September. They’ve got headliners likely lined up for every ppv before then so I doubt they’d want him on any of those. UK card likely already has two title fights tailored to the local crowd, Perth card is likely DDP/Adesanya, don’t think think they’d want to put him on there over Adesanya. I don’t care when or where but that should be what happens next regardless.
Pereira has treated the UFC really well. I think if he wants to fight earlier they'll give him a spot on an earlier card.
Well what you say is true, the UFC are the ones who schedule the bouts based on business and what makes them money. Most if not all champions previous and or current in the UFC has had the opportunity to fight in their home soil. From Whitaker, Bisping, Anderson, Makhachev, Adesanya, Aldo etc the list goes on.You are right, but we have learned here on Sherdog that the champ has no part on when and where the fights take place. The UFC just decides that, and the fighters will do what they are told.
I've worked places where you didn't have holidays off no matter what you said, you need to be here, to be the man, what do you have to do?View attachment 1041303
Alex responds during interview on the Trocacao Franca podcast:
"I don't want to fight at the end of the year. I want to fight sooner, so maybe that shows he won't be ready. I don't know why he said that. This guy is complicated. Honestly, I have to see what's best. I'm here to fight, but I don't understand best about other things like where is best [to fight] and where isn't. If I have to fight there, I will, but if it's not a date I want, then it's not best for me. I can say no."
I don't really blame Uncleaev for shooting his shot. Why wouldn't he prefer to fight in Abu Dhabi? But it seems that Alex is targeting a return much sooner than UFC 308 on 10/26. Not sure how bad his toe breaks are, but there's 105 days between UFC 300 (4/13) and UFC 304 in Manchester on 7/27. That's 15 weeks to rest, heal the toes, and have a 6 week training camp. Then there's Perth (305) on 8/18 if Alex wanted another 3 weeks. I don't believe that Uncleaev would turn down 304 or 305. Ramadan has passed, and he hasn't fought since he KO'd our boy Walker in January.
Do you guys think this match happens, and if so, when?