LAS VEGAS – One of the big questions heading into this weekend’s UFC light heavyweight title fight is whether Magomed Ankalaev will choose to wrestle Alex Pereira.
It might be an obvious call to many to wrestle the former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion, who has four consecutive knockouts in his past four UFC bouts. Yet, Ankalaev (20-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) has a past underutilizing his wrestling in many’s opinion, and he’s not making any promises that he’ll wrestle Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) in the main event of UFC 313 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+), which takes place at T-Mobile Arena.
“We’ll come out there in the stand-up, and then we’ll see what happens,” Ankalaev told reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC 313 media day.
Who knows what Ankalaev’s strategy will be come Saturday, but one thing is sure, he doesn’t intend to let the fight go to the judges’ scorecards.
“I don’t know how many rounds it will go, but from the very first round I will try to find a finish,” Ankalaev said.
Ankalaev is regarded by many to be the toughest test, stylistically speaking, to “Poatan.” He’s confident that there will be a change of guard at the top of the division.
“You can say that maybe he’s the biggest star at this moment, but I think his time is maybe up at this point,” Ankalaev said. “I think the UFC is going to have new faces and new stars coming up.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.
