Israel Adesanya backs Pereira after loss to Ankalaev

Nigerian Mixed Martial artist Israel Adesanya has given his thoughts on the main event of UFC 313.

Adesanya is unsure if Alex Pereira a former opponent deserved to be on the losing side of the scorecards.

In the UFC 313 main event from Las Vegas, Pereira lost to the recently crowned light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev.

Throughout the fight, the Russian often threatened to take Pereira down, making it difficult for Pereira to use his feared hitting style.

Adesanya the only other fighter to defeat Pereira inside the UFC Octagon, however, claims that the Brazilian was unfortunate not to have his hand raised after the five-round explosive fight.

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According to the official statistics, Ankalaev failed on all 12 of his official takedown attempts.

However, he did manage to hold Pereira against the fence for a large portion of the bout.

Adesanya says he expects to see both fighters improve their tactics after five rounds in the cage with each other.

UFC president Dana White has hinted that a rematch between Pereira and Ankalaev will happen sooner rather than later.