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Israel Adesanya's teammate, Navajo Stirling, believes Alex Pereira has been "forgotten" after losing against Magomed Ankalaev.
On March 8, the UFC light heavyweight division started a new chapter when Ankalaev dethroned Pereira of the title by unanimous decision.
While speaking to Inside Fighting, Stirling, who's 1-0 in the UFC light heavyweight division, had this to say about Ankalaev defeating Pereira:
"I feel like we didn't see the best Alex Pereira that we've seen. He later obviously announced that he had injuries, but you never know, people always dealing with injuries and stuff. You never know how bad it is. I thought Magomed's game plan was good. I think he realized the rounds were getting close and just to tie him up along the cage and just win that, kind of seal these rounds with control time. It might not have been very significant or huge for the fans, but it's smart because guess what, you're a champion."
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Stirling followed up by saying:
"Now all of a sudden everyone's like forgotten about [Pereira]. I haven't heard much about Pereira for a while. I think he'll come back obviously, but it's crazy how fast you can knock someone off like that, you know, that was just unstoppable, with a simple game plan. I thought it was smart on Ankalaev's part, and I thought it was good for me to watch."
Navajo Stirling, who earned his UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series, made his promotional debut in December 2024, defeating Tuco Tokkos by unanimous decision.
Stirling's sophomore appearance is scheduled for May 10 against Ivan Erslan.
Watch Stirling's comments starting at 12:00 below:
Magomed Ankalaev questioned Alex Pereira's interest in continuing to fight
Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev could be lined up for an immediate rematch later this year.
The new UFC light heavyweight champion believes his recent opponent might not be interested in fighting again, which he revealed by saying this on X:
"@AlexPereiraUFC do you still like FIGHTING? I have a feeling you are done."
Magomed Ankalaev finally had an opportunity to become a UFC champion after establishing an 11-fight winning streak. The 32-year-old Russian looks to continue building his legacy with a lengthy title reign at 205 pounds.
