Brendan Schaub thinks Alex Pereira losing his title is a problem for the UFC.
Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) lost his light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) by unanimous decision in this past Saturday’s UFC 313 main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Schaub scored Rounds 1, 3, and 5 for Pereira, but admits he thinks “he fought terribly.” He also thought UFC 313 was a terrible card, and that the promotion is in dire need of some stars.
“The UFC’s in some trouble, man,” Schaub said on his “The Fighter and The Kid” podcast. “Hey, name their big star. … Ankalaev? How many pay-per-views is he selling? Two: His mom, his uncle – who else? Who do you want? (Alexandre) Pantoja? 125? We don’t give a f*ck. 135? Who else have you got? Merab (Dvalishvili)? Nah, not happening. At middleweight, (Dricus Du Plessis) has a chance.”
Pereira may get an opportunity to reclaim his title after UFC CEO Dana White said an immediate rematch with Ankalaev is probably next. Both Pereira and Ankalaev are expecting to run things back as well.
Outside of Pereira, Schaub named who he sees as the current biggest star in the promotion.
“(Islam) Makhachev is probably their biggest star,” Schaub said. “Pereira is still their most pay-per-view guy, but Makhachev is the biggest star pound-for-pound, and you know, he’s exciting. He’s the one Dagestani that’s exciting.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.
