Merab Dvalishvili's coach theorizes why Alex Pereira lost to Magomed Ankalaev in their first fight ahead of UFC 320 rematch

Merab Dvalishvili's coach, John Wood, recently shared his thoughts on why Alex Pereira may have lost to Magomed Ankalaev in their first encounter at UFC 313 earlier this year.

Pereira and Ankalaev threw down in a light heavyweight title clash at UFC 313 in March. After five rounds of action, Ankalaev got his hand raised via unanimous decision and snatched the 205-pound title away from the Brazilian. The two are now booked for a highly anticipated rematch at UFC 320 in October.

In a recent interview with Home of Fight, Wood shared his theory about why Pereira may have lost to Ankalaev in their first fight. The veteran MMA coach believes complacency may have been the reason behind the Brazilian's loss and said:

"I'll tell you this, I travel a lot and I'm at almost every event all over the world. Not just UFC but small shows and big shows... I swear to you, when he was in that camp [for UFC 313], I saw that dude at every one of those shows. He was at Karate Kombat, he was in Australia, he's here, and he's there. So for me, I was just like, 'Man, how are you preparing for a fight of that magnitude when you're away for a week?"

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He continued:

"It just seemed like he was everywhere during that camp, and I feel like maybe there were some Ts and Is that weren't dotted and crossed. I think that he probably learned from that, and he's gonna come back and make sure all the bases are covered for this one. If that was the case."

Alex Pereira gets honest about potential trilogy fight with Magomed Ankalaev after rematch

Alex Pereira doesn't believe he'll face Magomed Ankalaev for a third time after they throw down in a rematch at UFC 320 in October. The Brazilian recently shared his thoughts on a potential trilogy fight against Ankalaev.

In an interview with MMA Junkie via an interpreter, Pereira claimed that Ankalaev won't be angling for a title shot with a potential loss and said:

"I think the story will be over. It's obviously out of my control. It's up to the UFC. If they want to do it again, I'll fight anyone. To be honest, from everything we've seen, I think with him losing, I don't think he's going to fight for the title anymore."

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Edited by Nishant Zende.