Magomed Ankalaev's wrestling set to fail against Alex Pereira at UFC 313, predicts former Olympic gold medalist: "His lead leg is very deficient"
Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev will take on each other in an exciting light heavyweight title showdown at UFC 313. Going into the fight, Pereira's fighting style has been a hot topic. A former Olympic gold medalist weighed in on the challenger's wrestling and predicted it would fail against Pereira in the pay-per-view event.
'Poatan' is armed with devastating punching power, which has helped him climb the ladder to reach the top of the division quickly. He keeps the fight on the feet and doesn't wrestle, owing to his kickboxing background.
On the other hand, his upcoming rival Magomed Ankalaev can wrestle and strike. Highlighting the difference in the fighting style of the pair, Henry Cejudo mentioned Pereira's vicious leg kicks, which can create a problem for Ankalaev. Speaking to Kamaru Usman on their Pound 4 Pound podcast, Cejudo observed:
"I think he will try to wrestle but because he hasn't wrestled in the past. I just don't know if he is actually going to do, he's probably going to revert back to what he always does and always striking with people. He does have hands but he doesn't have that Alex Pereira power and not just that, his lead leg is very deficient bro."
Cejudo continued:
"When he fought [Aleksandar] Rakic, when he fought Jan Blachowicz they were both able to really kick the sh*t out of it. Luckily he's a southpaw, so it takes a little bit of that power that Pereira has with that right leg but Pereira still kicks with that lead leg too and he is very accurate with it. "
Check out Henry Cejudo's comments on Pereira vs. Ankalaev below (25:23):
Chael Sonnen says narrative of Alex Pereira not preparing adequately for UFC 313 is a "myth"
Alex Pereira was recently criticized by a section of MMA fans and fight experts for not taking Magomed Ankalaev seriously. His training regime, in particular, was questioned as a video of 'Poatan' emerged from Australia where he was seen hanging out with Drake.
According to Chael Sonnen, however, Pereira is putting in the hard work for his upcoming fight at the UFC PI. In a video uploaded by Red Corner MMA on X, 'The American Gangster' said:
"I have been to the PI two days in a row now. Alex Pereira is the only fighter in this weekend's card who has sparred. Alex Pereira is the only fighter who has to lose roughly 20 pounds to beat the scale 9 a.m. Friday which is the hardest fight anybody has."
Sonnen continued:
"By the way, he hasn't started a weight cut, he is in here working, I watched him spar five rounds yesterday, today I watched him do a full mitts, when he hits and kicks the mitts it sounds like a shotgun is going off. Guys who are cutting weight don't have the energy to do that. This whole thing is a myth. This whole thing about struggle or Pereira isn't focused is a myth." [H/t: Red Corner MMA]
Watch Chael Sonnen's comments on Alex Pereira below: