Magomed Ankalaev’s Coach Believes Alex Pereira Was Greasing at UFC 313

Magomed Ankalaev’s coach, Sukhrab Magomedov, claims that Alex Pereira might have been greasing in their light heavyweight championship fight.

Magomedov was cornering Ankalaev when he dethroned Pereira via unanimous decision at UFC 313 earlier this month. According to Magomedov, Pereira seemed greased up with something when Ankalaev was grappling with him on the fence.

Magomedov believes it could have been the kind of grease fighters use during sparring sessions to make it difficult to grab a hold of them. He also thinks it could be a kind of ointment used in weight cuts to clog the sweat. Magomedov also claims Ankalaev smelled some kind of ointment and the Brazilian’s hair also felt sticky. Magomedov also indicated that Pereira’s long-term coach and mentor, Glover Teixeira, is savvy with such tricks.

“When Magomed pushed him to the fence near our corner, it seemed to me that Pereira was greased with something,” Magomedov said Ushatayka (translation via Red Corner MMA). “It happens — fighters get greased up for sparring sessions. Or when they’re cutting weight they use some ointment, the way it goes the sweat doesn’t flow off, but jells up. And that’s what it looked like to me on his body, too. Magomed also said afterwards that [Pereira] smelled like he had some ointment and had something in his hair, as it was sticky… Plus, I think Texeira is really experienced in stuff like that.”

Pereira defended his light heavyweight title three times before losing it to Ankalaev. Meanwhile, Ankalaev is unbeaten in 14 consecutive outings since suffering his lone pro loss in his UFC debut in 2018.

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