Arguably the biggest superstar in the sport today, Pereira will return to the Octagon on Saturday to defend his light heavyweight title against a stiff test in top contender Ankalaev.
Pereira has now rattled off five consecutive wins in the division after moving up from middleweight in 2023, and he’s also on a string of four consecutive knockout victories. He’s an elite kickboxer with an elite pedigree, and there’s a reasonable chance that he can continue to smash his way through his competition until he decides to move up in weight again.
However, the test that Pereira will face on Saturday is one we haven’t seen him pass with ease up to this point in his career. Ankalaev has one of the better styles in the division to break Pereira down and take the title from him.
That test, of course, will likely come in the form of wrestling, where Pereira is much less skilled and is arguably at a significant disadvantage against Ankalaev. Pereira has still defended takedowns well enough at 70 percent throughout his UFC career, but he has also given up takedowns to many sub-par grapplers like Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva, Jiří Procházka and even Israel Adesanya.
Read more on this matchup below.
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UFC 313 odds, predictions: Alex Pereira looks to defend light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev
