Joe Rogan shares glowing praise for Magomed Ankalaev following UFC 313 win over Alex Pereira

Joe Rogan is impressed by how well Magomed Ankalaev performed against Alex Pereira.

Fans were surprised by Ankalaev’s ability to keep Pereira moving backwards. “Poatan” is used to marching forward and utilizing his striking to break his opponents down. While Pereira got in his share of kicks, he never look comfortable on the feet. This was evident at the end of the second round when a clean punch from Ankalaev sent Pereira stumbling back into the cage.

Following Ankalaev’s UFC light heavyweight title win, Rogan has high praise for the newly-minted champion.

RELATED: ALEX PEREIRA’S ‘LIFESTYLE’ CAUGHT UP TO HIM AT UFC 313, SAYS FORMER TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION

Joe Rogan Gives Magomed Ankalaev His Flowers

At the conclusion of the UFC 313 pay-per-view, Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, and Jon Anik reflected on the title fight between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira. Rogan explained what made Ankalaev so difficult for Pereira to read (h/t MMAJunkie).

“Now he’s the UFC light heavyweight champ of the world against the most devastating champion we’ve seen in years,” Rogan said of Ankalaev post-UFC 313. “I mean, it’s really an impressive performance by Ankalaev. He did everything he had to do. He pressured him on the feet, he showed that Pereira has a harder time fighting off the back foot, and he did what had to be done.”

“There was really only a couple of moments where Pereira stunned him – the head kick, there were a couple of other moments where he caught him with good shots, but mostly Ankalaev was controlling the distance, was putting the pressure on him, and we saw ‘Poatan’ fight in what, up until now, is an uncharacteristic position: backing up and avoiding shots.”

UFC CEO Dana White has told reporters that a rematch between Ankalaev and Pereira is likely. Many fans and experts agree that it would be the right move with no other obvious contender at 205 pounds. Both Ankalaev and “Poatan” have shared interest in running it back.

Pereira insists that he will make the necessary adjustments to better prepare for Ankalaev next time. It’ll be interesting to see if those changes will be enough for Pereira to regain UFC gold.