We already saw this fight and not only was it not very close, it wasn't very long ago either. But there are still two different narratives you can run with. You can say that the fight wasn't close and the rematch won't be either. Or you can run with the narrative that Alex defended all of the takedowns, got one of his own and the only reason he lost is because he didn't let his hands go but this time around he will trust his takedown defense and actually let his hands go. While I personally think there is a lot of truth to Alex trusting his takedown defense and being busier here, i am firmly of the belief that Alex will lose worse this time. While it was impressive that Alex defended the takedowns, it can't go unmentioned that he was almost knocked out. I think Ankalaev has a better performance here than he did the first time and while i would love to be wrong, i think this is the official end of the Poaton era.

Magomed Ankalaev

Magomed Ankalaev is a long kickboxer who uses range well and has devastating kicks. He has power in both of his hands and his feet. He is very versatile in his attack style, has solid striking defense but can be low volume. If he gets in trouble striking he does have a wrestling backup plan and averages around 1 takedown per 15 minutes. Those takedowns however did fail him in his title win over Alex 6 months ago.

Alex Pereira

Alex Pereira is a former 2 division champion and one of the biggest stars the sport has. He is a world class kickboxer that dominated that world before moving into this one. He has ungodly power and a willingness to fight anyone, anywhere. He is coming off the title loss to Ankalaev earlier this year where his takedown defense looked outstanding, but he could not get his hands going.